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LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 

OF 

HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 




BY D. W. BARTLETT, 

WASKINGTCM MRRESPQNBENT OF THE N. Y. EVENING POST, AND N, Y. INOEPENDEHT. 



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1860. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 

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In the Clerk's office, of the District Court, for the Southern District of 
New-York. 



LIFE AND SPEECHES 



OF 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



PAKT FIEST 



EARLY HISTORY. 



Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809, then 
in Hardin, now in the recently formed county of La- 
rue, Kentucky. His father, Thomas, and grandfather, 
Abraham, were born in Kockingham county, Virginia, 
whither their ancestors had come from Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, His lineage has been traced no farther 
back than this. The family were originally quakers, 
though in later times they have fallen away from the 
peculiar habits of that people. The grandfather, 
Abraham, had four brothers ; Isaac, Jacob, John, and 
Thomas. So far as known, the descendants of Jacob 
and John are still in Virginia. Isaac went to a place 
near where Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, 
join, and his descendants are in that region. Thomas 
came to Kentucky, and, after many years, died there, 
whence his descendants went to Missouri. 



16 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Abraham, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
came to Kentucky and was killed by Indians, about 
the year 1784. He left a widow, three sons, and two 
daughters. The eldest son, Mordecai, remained in 
Kentucky till late in life, when he removed to Han- 
cock county, Illinois, where, soon after, he died, and 
where several of his descendants still reside. 

The second son, Joseph, removed at an early day 
to a place on Blue river, now within Harrison county, 
Indiana, but no recent information of him or his fam- 
ily has been obtained. The eldest sister, Mary, mar- 
ried Ralph Grume, and some of her descendants are 
now known to be in Breckenridge county, Kentucky. 
The second sister, Nancy, married Wm. Brumiield, 
and her family are not known to have left Kentucky, 
but there is no recent information from them. Thom- 
as, the youngest son, and father of the present subject, 
by the early death of his father, and very narrow cir- 
cumstances of .his mother, even in childhood, was a 
wandering, laboring boy, and grew up literally without 
education. He never did more in the way of writing, 
than to bunglingly sign his own name. Before he was 
grown, he passed one year as a hired hand with his 
Uncle Isaac, on Wataga, a branch of the Holston 
river. 

Gretting back into Kentucky, and having reached 
his twonty-eighth year, he married Nancy Hanks, 
mother of the present subject, in the year 1806. She 
was also born in Virginia, and relatives of hers, 
of the name of Hanks, and of other names, now reside 
in Coles, Macon, and Adams counties, HHnois, and 
also in Iowa. 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 17 

The present subject has no brother or sister of the 
whole or half blood ; he had a sister, older than him- 
self, who was grown and married, but died many years 
ago, leaving no child ; also a brother, younger than 
himself, who died in infancy. Before leaving Ken- 
tucky, he and his sister were sent, for short periods, to 
A-B-C schools ; the first, kept by Zachariah Kiney, 
and the second by Caleb Hazel. At this time his 
father resided on Knob creek, on the road from Beards- 
town, Ky., to I^ashville, Tenn.,at a point three or three 
and a half miles south or southwest of Atherton ferry, 
on the Kolling Fork. From this place he removed to 
what is now Spencer county, Indiana, in the autumn 
of 1816, Abraham then being in his eighth year. This 
removal was partly on account of slavery, but chiefly 
on account of the difficulty in land- titles in Kentucky, 
he settled in an unbroken forest, and the clearing 
away of the surplus wood was the great task ahead. 
Abraham, though very young, was large of his age, 
and had an axe put into his hands at once, and from 
that time till within his twenty- third year, he was almost 
constantly handling that most useful instrument, less, 
of course, in ploughing and harvesting seasons. At this 
place Abraham took an early start as a hunter, which 
was never much improved afterward. A few days be- 
fore the completion of his eighth year, in the absence 
of his father, a flock of wild turkeys approached the 
log-cabin, and Abraham with a rifle-gun, standing in- 
side, shot through a crack and killed one of them. He 
has never since pulled a trigger on any larger game. 
In the autumn of 1818, his mother died, and a year 
afterward his father mamed Mrs. Sally Johnston, at 



18 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Elizabethtowii, Kentucky, a widow with three children 
of her first marriage. She proved a good and kind 
mother to Abraham, and is still living in Coles county, 
Illinois. There were no children of this second mar- 
riage. His father's residence continued at the same 
place, in Indiana, till 1830. 

While here, Abraham went to A-B-C schools, 

kept successively by Andrew Crawford, 

Sweeny, and Azel W. Dorsey, he does not remember 
any other. The family of Mr. Dorsey now reside in 
Schuyler county, Illinois. Mr. Lincoln now thinks the 
aggregate of all his schooling did not amount to one 
year. He was never in a college or academy as a stu- 
dent, and never inside a college or academy till since 
he had a law-license. What he has in the way of 
education he has picked up. After he was twenty- 
three, and had separated from his father, he studied 
English grammar, imperfectly, of course, but so as to 
speak and wiite as well as he now does. He studied, 
and nearly mastered, the six books of Euclid since 
he was a member of Congress. He regrets his limited 
means of education, and does what he can to supply 
the want of early opportunities. 

When he was nineteen, still residing in Indiana, he 
made his first trip upon a flatboat to New-Orleans. 
He was a hired hand, merely, and he and a son of the 
owner, without other assistance, made the trip. The 
nature of part of the cargo-load, as it was called, made 
it necessary for them to linger and trade along the 
sugar coast, and one night they were attacked by 
seven negroes with intent to kiU and rob them. They 
were hurt some in the melee, but succeeded in driving 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 19 

the negroes from the boat, and then " weighed anchor'' 
and left. 

March Ist, 1830, joung Lincoln having just com- 
pleted his 21st year, his father and family, with the fam- 
ilies of the two daughters and sons-in-law of his step- 
mother, left the old homestead in Indiana and came to 
Illinois ; their mode of conveyance were wagons drawn 
by ox teams. They reached the county of Macon, and 
stopped there some time. Within the same month of 
March his father and family settled a new place on the 
north side of the Sangamon river, at the junction of 
the timberland and prairie, about ten miles westerly 
from Decatur ; here they built a log-cabin, into which 
they removed, and made enough rails to fence ten acres 
of ground, fenced and broke the ground, and raised a 
crop of sod corn upon it the same year. These are, or 
are supposed to be, the rails about which so much is 
being said just now, though they are far from being 
the first or only rails ever made by him. The sons- 
in-law were temporarily settled at other places in 
the county. In the autumn all hands were greatly 
afflicted with ague and fever, to which they had not 
been used, and by which they were greatly discouraged, 
so much so that they determined on leaving the county. 
They remained, however, through the succeeding win- 
ter, which was the winter of the very celebrated ^^ deep 
snow'' of Illinois. During that winter young Lincoln, 
together with his step-mother's son, John D. Johnston, 
and John Hanks, yet residing in Macon county, hired 
themselves to one Denton Offult to take a flat-boat 
from Beardstown, Illinois, to New-Orleans, and for 
that purpose were to join him — Offult — at Springfield, 



20 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Illinois^ as soon as the snow should go off ; when it 
did go off, which was about the 1st of March, 1831, 
the country was so flooded as to make travelling by 
land impracticable ; to obviate which difficulty they 
purchased a large canoe, and came down the Sanga- 
mon river in it. This is the time and manner of Lin- 
coln's first entrance into Sangamon county. They 
found Offult at Springfield, but learned from him that 
he had failed in getting a boat ; this led to their hiring 
themselves to him at $12 per month, each, and getting 
the timber out of the trees, and building a boat, at 
old Sangamon town, on the Sangamon river, seven 
miles northwest of Springfield, which boat they took 
to New-Orleans substantially on the old contract. 
During this boat enterprise and acquaintance with 
Offult, who was previously an entire stranger, Offult 
conceived a liking for Lincoln, and believing he could 
turn him to account, he contracted with him to act as 
clerk- for him on his return from New-Orleans in charge 
of a store and mill at New- Salem, then in Sangamon, 
now in Menard county. Hanks had not gone to New- 
Orleans, but having a family, and being likely to be 
detained from home longer than at first expected, had 
turned back from St. Louis ; he is the same John 
Hanks who now engineers the " Kail Enterprise" at 
Decatur, and is a first cousin to Abraham's mother. 
Abraham's father, with his own family and others 
mentioned, had, in pursuance of their intention, re- 
moved from Macon to Coles county. Jno. D. John- 
ston, the step-mother's son, went to them, and 
Lincoln stopped indefinitely, and for the first time 
by himself, at New- Salem, before mentioned. This 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 21 

was in July, 1831. Here he rapidly made acquain- 
tances and friends. In less than a year Offult's busi- 
ness was falling ofP — ^had almost failed. When the 
Black -Hawk war of 1832 broke out, young Lincoln 
joined a volunteer company, and to his own surprise 
was elected captain of it. He says he has not since 
had any success in life which gave him so much satis- 
faction. He went through the campaign ; served near 
three months ; met the ordinary hardships of such an 
expedition, but was in no battle. He now owns in 
Iowa the land upon which his own warrants for this 
service were located. 

Keturning from the campaign, and encouraged by 
his great popularity among his immediate neighbors, 
he the same year ran for the legislature and was beaten, 
his own precinctj however, casting its votes 277 for, 
and 7 against him, and this, too, when he was an 
avowed Clay man, and the precinct the autumn after- 
ward, giving a majority of 115 for General Jackson, 
over Mr. Clay. This was the only time Lincoln was 
ever beaten in a direct vote of the people. He was 
now without means and out of business, but was 
anxious to remain with his friends, who had treated 
him with so much generosity. It was some time before 
he decided upon a profession — first, a trade, then a 
farmer, then the law — the latter would have been his 
choice at that time, but for his limited education. Be- 
fore long, strangely enough, a man offered to sell, and 
did sell to him, and another as poor as himself, an 
old stock of goods upon credit. They opened as mer- 
chants, and he says that was the store. Of course 
they did nothing but get deeper and deeper in debt. 



99. 



LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 



He was appointed postmaster at New-Salem — the office 
being too insignificant to make his politics an objec- 
tion. The store ^'winked out." 

Nothing daunted by this turn of ill-luck, he directed 
his attention to law, and boiTowing a few books from 
a neighbor, which he took from the office in the even- 
ing and returned in the morning, he learned the rudi- 
ments of the profession in which he has since become 
so distinguished. 

Mr. Lincoln was in his youth known as the swiftest 
runner, the best jumper, and the strongest wrestler, 
among his fellows ; and when he reached manhood, and 
his physical frame became developed, the early settlers 
pronounced him the stoutest man in the State. His 
abstemious habits and his hardy physcial discipline 
strengthened his constitution and gave vigor to his 
mind. He improved every opportunity to cultivate his 
intellect, often studying his law-books far into the 
night by the reflection of the log-fire in his farm-home 
on the prairies. He was early distinguished for a dis- 
putational turn of mind, and many are the intellectual 
triumphs of his in the country or village lyceum select- 
ed by old settlers who remember him as he then 
appeared. His strong, natural, direct, and irresistible 
logic marked him there as it has ever since, as an in- 
tellectual king. 

The deep snow which occurred in the winter of 
1830-31, was one of the chief troubles endured by the 
early settlers of Central and Southern Illinois. Its 
consequences lasted through several years. The peo- 
ple were illy prepared to meet it, as the weather had 
been mild and pleasant — unprecedently so up to 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 23 

Christmas — wlien a snow-storm set in, wMch lasted two 
days ; something never before known even among the 
traditions of the Indians, and never approached in the 
weather of any winter since. The pioneers who came 
into the State (then a territory) in 1800, some of 
whom are still living, say the average depth of snow 
was never, previous to 1830, more then knee deep to 
an ordinary man, while it was breast high all that winter, 
not in drifts bnt over a whole section. ^' For three 
months," say the old settlers, ^^ there was not a warm 
sun upon the surface of the snow.'' It became crusted 
over, so as (in some cases) to bear teams. Cattle and 
horses perished, the winter wheat was killed, the mea- 
gre stocks of provisions ran out, and the most wealthy 
settlers came near starving, while some of the poorer 
ones actually did. It was in the midst of such scenes 
that young Abraham Lincoln attained his majority, and 
comm ;nced his career of bold and manly independence. 
It was this discipline that was to try the soul of the 
future President. Communication between house and 
house was often entirely obstructed for teams, so that 
the young and strong men had to do all the travelling 
on foot ; carrying from one neighbor what of his store 
he could spare to another, and bringing back some- 
thing in return sorely needed. Men living five, ten, 
twenty, and thirty miles apart were called ^' neighbors" 
then. Young Lincoln was always ready to perform 
these acts of humanity, and foremost in the counsels 
of the settlers when their troubles seemed gathering 
like a thick cloud about them. 

The surveyor of Sangamon offered to depute to Lin- 
coln that portion of his work which was in his part of 



24 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

the county. He accepted, procured a compass and 
chain, studied Flint and Gibson a little, and went at 
it. This procured bread, and kept soul and body to- 
gether. The election of 1834 came, and he was then 
elected to the legislature by the highest vote cast for 
any candidate. Major John F. Stuart, then in full 
practice of the law, was also elected. When the legis- 
lature met, the law books were dropped, but were 
taken up again at the end of the session. He was 
re-elected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. In the autumn of 
1836 he obtained a law license, and April 15, 1837, 
he removed to Springfield and commenced the prac- 
tice, his old friend, Stuart, taking him into partner- 
ship. 

March 3d, 1837, by a protest entered upon the Il- 
linois house journal of that date, at pages 817, 818, 
Lincoln, with Dan Stone, another representative of 
Sangamon, briefly defined his position on the slavery 
question, as follows. We quote from the State Jour- 
nal : 

'^ In 1836-7, Mr. Lincoln was one of the represen- 
tatives in the Legislature from Sangamon county, and 
during the session, as usual, resolutions, taking an ex- 
treme Southern view on the subject of slavery, were 
brought forward, discussed, and finally adopted. Mr. 
Lincoln refused to vote for them ; but took advantage 
of the constitutional privilege allowing any two mem- 
bers to enter their protest upon the journals of the 
house, to give his views on the subject in the form of 
a protest. The paper is worthy of being jjroduced at 
the present time, and we give it, as follows : 

'' Makch 3d, 1837. 

" The following protest was presented to the house, 
which was read and ordered to be spread on the jour- 
nal, to wit : 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 25 

" Eesoliitions upon the subject of domestic slaverj 
having passed "both branches of the general assembly, 
at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest 
against the passage of the same. 

" They believe that the institution of slavery is founded 
on both injustice and had policy ; but that the pro- 
mulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to in- 
crease than abate its evils. 

" They believe that the Congress of the United States 
has no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with 
the institution of slavery in the different States. 

^^ They believe that the Congress of the United 
States has the power, under the Constitution, to abol- 
ish slavery in the District of Columbia ; but that the 
power ought not to be exercised unless at the request 
of the people of said district. 

" The difference between these opinions and those 
contained in the said resolutions, is their reason for 
entering this protest. 

"DAN STONE, 
"A. LINCOLN, 
" Kepresentatives from the county'of Sangamon." 

Business flowed in upon him, and he rose rapidly to 
distinction in his profession. He displayed remarkable 
ability as an advocate in jury trials, and many of his 
law arguments were master-pieces of logical reasoning. 
There was no refined artificiality in his forensic efforts. 
They all bore the stamp of masculine common sense ; 
and he had a natural, easy mode of illustration, that 
made the most abstruse subjects appear plain. His 
success at the bar, however, did not withdraw his at- 
tention from politics. For many years he was the 
^ wheel-horse' of the Whig party of Illinois, and was 
on the electoral ticket in several Presidential cam- 
paigns. At such time he canvassed the State with his 

2 



26 LIFEAND SPEECHES OF 

usual vigor and ability. He was an ardent friend of 
Henry Clay, and exerted himself powerfully in his be- 
half, in 1844, traversing the entire State of Illinois, and 
addressing public meetings daily until near the close 
of the campaign, when, becoming convinced that 
his labors in that field would be unavailing, he 
crossed over into Indiana, and continued his efforts up 
to the day of election. The contest of that year 
in Illinois was mainly on the tariff question. Mr. 
Lincoln, on the Whig side, and John Calhoun 
on the democratic side, were the heads of the op- 
posing electoral tickets. Calhoun, late of Nebraska, 
now dead, was then in the full vigor of his powers, and 
was accounted the ablest debater of his party. They 
stumped the State together, or nearly so, making 
speeches usually on alternate days at each place, and 
each addressing large audiences at great length, some- 
times four hours together. Mr. Lincoln, in these elab- 
orate speeches, evinced a thorough mastery of the 
principles of political economy which underlie the tariff 
question, and presented arguments, in favor of the pro- 
tective policy with • a power and conclusiveness rarely 
equalled, and at the same time in a manner so lucid 
and familiar, and so well interspersed with happy il- 
lustrations and apposite anecdotes, as to establish a 
reputation which he has never since failed to maintain, 
as the ablest leader in the Whig and Kepublican rank? 
in the great West. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 27 



PAKT SECOND. 

IN CONGRESS. 

In 1846, Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress from 
tlie central district of Illinois. 

He took his seat in Congress on the first Monday in 
December, of the year 1847. It was the Thirtieth 
Congress, and the House of Kepresentatives to which 
he was elected was presided over by Mr. Winthrop of 
Massachusetts. The House was composed of 117 
Whigs, 110 Democrats, and 1 Native American. Illi- 
nois then had seven representatives, and all were Dem- 
ocrats but Mr. Lincoln. He alone from that State held 
up the old Whig banner. With him, from other 
States, were associated such well-known names as the 
following : CoUamer, Marsh, Ashmun, Truman Smith, 
Hunt, Tallmadge, IngersoU, Botts, Goggin, Cling- 
man, Stephens, Toombs, Gentry, and Thompson. Op- 
posed to him in politics were men like Wilmot, Brod- 
head, Boyd, Bocock, Ehett, Brown, Linn Boyd, Andrew 
Johnson, etc., etc. In the Senate were Webster, Cal- 
houn, Dayton, Davis, Dix, Dickinson, Hunter, Hale, 
Bell, Crittenden, and Corwin. It was a Congress full 
of the most talented men — crowded with the real states- 
men of the country, and such a one in these and other 
respects as the country rarely elects to make its laws. 
It turned out to be one of the most excited, agitated, 
and agitating ever convened. 



28 LIFE AND S^PEECHES OF 

HARBOR AND RIVER BILL. 

One of Mr. Lincoln's first votes was given, Decem- 
ber 20j 1847, in favor of the subjoined resolution : 

^^ Resolved, That if, in the judgment of Congress, it be 
necessary to improve the navigation of a river to expe- 
dite and render secure the movements of our army, and 
save from delay and loss our arms and munitions of 
war, that Congress has the j)ower to improve such 
river. 

'''Resolved, That if it be necessary for the preservation 
of the lives of our seamen, repairs, safety, or main- 
tenance of our vessels-of-war, to improve a harbor or 
inlet, either on our Atlantic or Lake coast. Congress 
has the power to make such improvement.'' 

A motion was made to lay the resolution on the ta- 
ble, and Mr. Lincoln voted with the other Whigs then 
in the House against the motion, and it was de- 
feated. The resolution was laid over after this test 
vote to another day for debate. 

SLAVERY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

The next day the slaveiy question was agitated in 
the House. Mr. Giddings presented a memorial from 
certain citizens of the District of Columbia, asking 
Congress to repeal all laws upholding the slave-trade 
in the district. Mr. Griddings moved to refer the me- 
morial to the Judiciary Committee, with instructions 
to inquire into the constitutionality of all laws by which 
slaves are held as property in the District of Columbia. 
A motion was made to lay the paper on the table. Mr. 
Lincoln voted against the motion. The result was a 



ABRAHALI LINCOLN. 29 

tie vote, and the Speaker voted in the negative. Mr. 
Howell Cobb stated that he wished to debate it, and it 
lay over under the rules. 

On the 22d of December, Mr. Wentworth of Illinois 
moved the following resolution : 

'^Resolved, That the General Government has the 
power to construct such harbors, and improve such 
rivers as are necessary and proper for the protection of 
our navy and commerce, and also for the defences of 
our country." 

A motion was made to lay on the table, and then 
withdrawn. An exciting contest ensued on the de- 
mand for the previous question. It was sustained, and 
the House came to a direct vote on the resolution, 
passing it by 138 ayes to 54 nays, Mr. Lincoln voting, 
of course, with the ayes. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

On the same day Mr. Lincoln offered the following 
preamble and resolutions on the Mexican War : 

" Whereas, the President of the United States, in 
his Message of May 11, 1846, has declared that ' the 
Mexican government refused to receive him [the envoy 
of the United States] , or listen to his propositions, but, 
after a long-continued series of menaces, have at last 
invaded our territory , and shed the blood of our fellow- 
citizens on our own soil ;' 

" And again, in his Message of December 8, 1846, 
that ' we had ample cause of war against Mexico long 
before the breaking out of hostilities ; but even then 
we forbore to take redress into our own hands until 
Mexico basely became the aggressor, by invading our 



30 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

soil in hostile array, and shedding the blood of our 
citizens ;' 

^^ And yet, again, in his Message of Decemher 7, 1847, 
' The Mexican government refused even to hear the 
terms of adjustment which he (our minister of peace) 
was authorized to propose, and finally, under wholly 
unjustifiable pretexts, involved the two countries in 
war, by invading the territory of the State of Texas, 
striking the first blow, and shedding the blood of our 
citizens on our own soil;' 

^^ And whereas, this House is desirous to obtain a 
full knowledge of all the facts which go to establish 
whether the particular spot on which the blood of our 
citizens was so shed, was or was not, at that time, our 
oivn soil : Therefore, 

'^Resolved, hy the House of Bepresentatives, That 
the President of the United States be respectfully re- 
quested to inform this House — 

" 1st. Whether the spot on which the blood of our 
citizens was shed, as in his memorial declared, was or 
was not within the territory of Spain, at least after the 
treaty of 1819, until the Mexican revolution. 

" 2d. Whether that spot is or is not within the ter- 
ritory which was wrested from Spain by the revolution- 
ary government of Mexico. 

^' 3d. Whether that spot is or is not within a settle- 
ment of people, which settlement has existed ever since 
long before the Texas Kevolution, and until its inhabi- 
tants fled before the approach of the United States 
army. 

'^ 4th. Whether that settlement is or is not isolated 
from any and all other settlements of the Gulf and the 



ABRA.HAM LINCOLN. 31 

Kio G-rande on the south and west, and of wide unin- 
habited regions on the north and east. 

" 5th. Whether the people of that settlement, or a 
majority of them, have ever submitted themselves to 
the government or laws of Texas or of the United 
States, of consent or of compulsion, either of accept- 
ing of&ce or voting at elections, or paying taxes, or 
serving on juries, or having process served on them, 
or in any other way. 

"6 th. Whether the people of that settlement did or 
did not flee at the approaching of the United States 
army, leaving unprotected their homes and their grow- 
ing crops hefore the blood was shed, as .in the message 
stated ; and whether the first blood so shed was or was 
not shed within the enclosure of one of the people who 
had thus fled from it. 

" 7th. Whether our citizens whose blood was shed, 
as in his message declared, were or were not, at that 
time, armed officers and soldiers sent into that settle- 
ment by the military order of the President, through 
the Secretary of War. 

"8th. Whether the military force of the United 
States was or was not so sent into that settlement after 
General Taylor had more than once intimated to the 
War Department that, in his opinion, no such move- 
ment was necessary to the defence or protection of 
Texas." 

These resolutions were laid over under the rule. We 
have quoted them entire because one of the false charges 
of Mr. Lincoln's political opponents is, that he voted 
against the su;pplies to the army. He was a Whig, 
and took the position of the Whigs of his day, many 



32 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

eminent Southern men included, wliicli was opposition 
to the declaration of war with Mexico, by the Presi- 
dent, so long as that opposition would accomplish any 
purpose, which it would not when Mr. Lincoln was in 
Congress ; and always, as these resolutions of his prove, 
objected to what he considered a false statement as to 
the origin of the difficulties. No circumstances, in his 
opinion, would justify falsehood in reference to the 
history of that or any other war, and so he on every 
proper occasion criticised the language of the President, 
which repeatedly declared that the war was begun by 
the act of Mexico. 

SLAVERY AGAIN. 

On the 28th of December Mr. Lincoln voted to 
sustain the right of petition. Several citizens of 
Indiana petitioned Congress for the abolition of slavery 
in the District of Columbia, and Mr. C. B. Smith 
moved to refer the petition to the Committee on the 
District. Mr. Cabell moved to lay the memorial upon 
the table, which motion was carried, Mr. Lincoln voting 
against it and in favor of according to it a respectful 
consideration. ^- 

On the 30th of December, a similar memorial against 
the slave-trade was presented to the House, and on a 
motion to lay upon the table Mr. Lincoln voted again 
in the negative. 

January 17, 1848, Mr. Giddings introduced a resolu- 
tion in the House, reporting certain alleged outrages 
against a colored man in the District, and calling ujDon 
the Speaker to appoint a select committee to inquire 
into the expediency of repealing such acts of Congress 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 33 

as sustained or autliorized the slave-trade in the Dis- 
trict. The resolution caused considerable excitement, 
and a motion to lay on the table was made and lost by 
one vote. Mr. Lincoln voted against the motion. The 
resolution was now before the House, but the previous 
question was pending. Questions of order arose and 
the House was in great confusion. Mr. Giddings 
claimed the right to modify his resolution, and the 
Speaker decided that he had that right. Mr. Ste- 
phens, of Georgia, appealed from the decision of the 
Chair. In answer to a question, the Chair stated that 
if the resolution was modified, a second motion to lay 
*n the table would be in order, whereupon Mr. Stephens 
withdrew his appeal. Mr. Giddings modified his reso- 
lution, and it was again moved that it be laid on the 
table. This time the motion was successful — ayes 94, 
nays 88 — Mr. Lincoln voting no. 

VOTE OF SUPPLIES FOB THE WAR. 

On the 17th of February, Mr. Lincoln gave a vote 
which effectually destroys the assertion of some of his 
political enemies of this day, that he voted against the 
supplies for the war in Mexico. The Committee of 
Ways and Means reported a Loan Bill to raise the 
sum of sixteen millions of dollars to ena^ble the gov- 
ernment to provide for its debts, principally incurred 
in Mexico. This bill passed a Whig House of Kepre- 
sentatives ; ayes 192, nays 14, Mr. Lincoln voting for 
the hill. This vote alone disposes of the slanderous 
cha.-ge that he voted against the supplies because of the 
war with Mexico. 



2« 



34 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 



PUTNAM S RESOLUTION. 

On the 28th of February Mr. Putnam moved the 
following preamble and resolution : 

^ ' Whereas, In the settlement of the difficulties pend- 
ing between this country and Mexico, territory may be 
acquired in which slavery does not exist ; and whereas, 
Congress, in the organization of a territorial govern- 
ment, at an early period of our political history, estab- 
lished a principle worthy of imitation in all future time, 
forbidding the existence of slavery in free territory : 
Therefore, 

" Resolved, That in any territory which may be ac- 
quired from Mexico, over which shall be established 
territorial governments, slavery or involuntary servi- 
tude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the par- 
ty shall have been duly convicted, should be forever pro- 
hibited ; and that, in any act or resolution establishing 
such governments, a fundamental provision ought to be 
inserted to that effect.'' 

Mr. Putnam moved the previous question. 

Mr. Brodhead moved to lay the resolution on the 
table. 

The motion to lay on the table was decided by yeas 
and nays. 

After the roll was called through, Mr. C. J. Inger- 
soU rose and asked leave to vote. Mr. I. said he was 
not within the bar when his name was called, but came 
in before the foUoAving name was called. Mr. I. said, 
if allowed to vote, he would vote aye. His vote was 
not received. 

Mr, Murphy rose and said he was not within the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 35 

bar when liis name was called, but lie asked leave to 
vote. It being objected to — 

Mr. C. J. Ingersoll moved to sus^Dend the rules, to 
allow Mr. Murphy and himself to vote. Disagreed to. 

The result was then announced, as follows : 

Yeas. — Messrs. Green Adams, Atkinson, Barringer, Barrow, Bayly, 
Bedinger, Birdsall, Black, Boeock, Bowdon, Bowlin, Boyd, Bo3den, 
Brodliead, Charles Brown, Albert G. Brown, Burt, Cabell, Cathcart, 
Chase, Clapp, Franklin Clark, Beverly L. Clark, Clingman, Howell Cobb, 
Williamson R. W. Cobb, Cocke, Crisfield, Crozier, Daniel, Dickinson, 
Donnell, Garnett Duncan, Featherston, Ficklin, French, Fulton, Gaines, 
Gayle, Gentry, Goggin, Green, Willard P. Hall, Haralson, Harris, Has- 
kell, Henley, Hill, Hilliard, Isaac E. Holmes, George S. Houston, Inge, 
Iverson, Jackson, Jamieson, Andrew Johnson, Robert AV. Johnson, Geo 
W. Jones, John W. Jones, Kaufman, Ktiinon, Tho. Butler King, La 
Sere, Levin, Ligon, Lord, Lumpkin, Macla}', McClernand, McKay, 
McLane, Mann, Miller, Morehead, Morse, Outlaw, Pendleton, Pettit, 
Peyton, Phelps, Pilsbury, Preston, Richardson, Richey, Robinson, 
Roman, Sawyer, Shepperd, Simpson, Sims, Robert Smith, Stanton, Ste- 
phens, Thibodeaux, Thomas, Tompkins, John B. Thompson, Robert 
A Thompson, Toombs, Turner, Tenable, Wick, Williams, Wiley, Wood- 
ward — 105. 

Nays. — Messrs. Abbott, Ashmun, Bingham, Brady, Butler, Canby, 
Collamer, Collins, Conger, Cranston, Crowell, Cummins, Dickey, Dixon, 
Daer, Daniel Duncan, Dimn, Eckert, Edwards, Embree, Nathan Evans? 
Furaii, Fai-relly, Fisher, Freedly, Fries, Giddings, Gott, Gregory, Grinnelh 
Hale, Nathan K. Hall, Hammons, James G. Hampton, Moses Hampton, 
Henry, Elias B. Holmes, John W. Houston, Hubbard, Hudson, Hunt, 
Irvin, Jenkins, James H. Johnson, Kellogg, Daniel P, King, Lahm, Wil- 
liam T. Lawrence, Sidney Lawrence. LefQer, Lincoln, McClellnnd, 
McHvaine, Marsh, Marvin, Morris, Mullin, Nelson, Nes, Newell, Pal- 
frey, Peaslee, Peck, Pollock, Putnam, Reynold, Juhus, John A.Rock- 
well, Root, Rumsey, St. John, Schenck, Sherrill, Silvester, Slingerland, 
Caleb B. Smith, Truman Smith, Starkweather, Andrew Stewart, Charles 
E. Stuart, Strohm, Tallmadge, Taylor, Richard W. Thompson, William 
Thompson, Thurston, Van Dyke, Yinton, Warren, Wentworth, White, 
Wilmot, Wilson— 92, 

So the resolution was laid on the table. 
Mr. Lincoln voted with the nays. 



36 LIFE AKD SPEECHES OF 

THE TEN REGIMENT BILL. 

On April 3d Mr. Lincoln voted to suspend the rules 
tbat tiie Ten Kegiment Bill might be taken up, and 
again did the same on the 18th of the same month. 

THE TARIFF. 

June 19, 1848, Mr. Lincoln put himself on record in 
favor of a protective tariff. Mr. Stewart of Penn., on 
that day moved a suspension of the rules to enable him 
to offer the following resolution : 

'■^ Besolved^ That the Committee of Ways and Means 
be instructed to inquire into the expediency of reporting 
a bill increasing the duties on foreign luxuries of all 
kinds and on such foreign manufactures as are now 
coming into ruinous competition with American labor." 

Mr. Lincoln voted in the affirmative. 

SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. 

On the 28th of July, the famous bill to establish 
territorial governments for Oregon, California, and 
New-Mexico, was taken from the Speaker's table as it 
came from the Senate. The peculiar feature of the 
bill was a provision in reference to California and New- 
Mexico, prohibiting the territorial legislatures from 
passing laws in favor or against slavery, but also pro- 
viding that all the laws of the territorial legislatures 
shall be subject to the sanction of Congress. It will be 
remembered that it was this bill which Mr. Webster, 
who was then in the Senate, opposed in a great speech ; 
using the following language : 



A B R A H A I\I L I N C L K . 37 



^^ We stand here now — at least I do, for one^ — to say, 
that considering that there have been already five 
new slaveholding States formed out of newly-acquired 
territory, and one only, at most, non- slaveholding 
State, I do not feel that I am called on to go farther ; 
I do not feel the obligation to yield more. But our 
friends of the South say, ^ You deprive us of all our 
rights ; we have fought for this territory, and you 
deny us participation in it/ Let us consider this 
question as it really is ; and since the honorable gen- 
tleman from Georgia proposes to leave the case to the 
enlightened and impartial judgment of mankind, and 
as I agree with him that it is a case proper to be 
considered by the enlightened part of mankind, let us 
consider how the matter in truth stands. What is 
the consequence ? Gentlemen who advocate the case 
which my honorable friend from Georgia, with so much 
ability, sustains, declare that we invade their rights — 
that we deprive them of a participation in the enjoyment 
of territories acquired by the common services and com- 
mon exertions of all. Is this true ? How deprived ? 
Of what do we deprive them ? Why, they say that we 
deprive them of the privilege of carrying their slaves, 
as slaves, into the new territories. Well, sir, what is 
the amount of that ? They say that in this way Vv^e 
deprive them of the opportunity of going into this 
acquired territory with their property. Their ^ prop- 
erty !' — what do they mean by that ? We certainly 
do not deprive them of the privilege of going into 
these newly-acquired territories with all that, in the 
general estimate of human society, in the general, and 
common, and universal understanding of mankind, is 
esteemed property. Not at all. The truth is just 
this : they have in their own States peculiar laws, 
which create property in persons. They have a sys- 
tem of local legislation, on which slavery rests, while 
everybody agrees that it is against natural law, or at 
least against the common understanding which pre-. 



38 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

vails as to what is natural law. I am not going into 
metaphysics, for therein I should encounter the hon- 
orable member from South Carolina, and we should 
wander, in ' endless mazes lost,' until after the time 
for the adjournment of Congress. The Southern 
States have peculiar laws, and by those laws there is 
property in slaves. This is purely local. The real 
meaning, then, of Southern gentlemen, in making 
this complaint, is, that they cannot go into the terri- 
tories of the United States, carrying with them their 
own peculiar local law — a law which creates property 
in persons. This, according to their OAvn statement, 
is all the ground of comj)laint they have. Now, here, 
I think, gentlemen are unjust toward us. How un- 
just they are, others will judge — generations that will 
come after us will judge. 

" It will not be contended that this sort of personal 
slavery exists by general law. It exists only by local 
law. I do not mean to deny the validity of that local 
law where it is established ; but I say it is, after all, 
nothing but local law. It is nothing more. And 
wherever that local law does not extend, property in 
persons does not exist. Well, sir, what is now the 
demand on the part of our Southern friends ? They 
say, ^ We will carry our local laws with us wherever 
we go. We insist that Congress does us injustice un- 
less it establishes in the territory into which we wish to 
go, our own local law.' This demand I, for one, re- 
sist, and shall resist. ••'•■ '*' * ••'•■ * 

'' Let me conclude, therefore, by remarking, that 
while I am willing to present this as presenting my 
own judgment and position, in regard to this case — and 
I beg it to be understood that I am speaking for no 
other than myself — and while I am willing to present 
this to the whole world as my own justification, I rest 
on these propositions : 1st. That when this Constitu- 
tion was adopted, nobody looked for any new acquisi- 
tion of territory to be formed into slaveholding States 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 39 

2d. That the principles of the ConstitTition prohibited, 
and were intended to prohibit, and should be construed 
to prohibit, all interference of the general government 
with slavery as it existed and still exists in the States, 
And then, that, looking to the effect of these new ac- 
quisitions v>diich have in this great degree inured to 
strengthen that interest in the South by the addition 
of these five States, there is nothing unjust, nothing of 
which an honest man can complain, if he is intelligent 
— and I feel there is nothing which the civilized world, 
if they take notice of so humble a person as myself, will 
reproach me with, when I say, as I said the other day, 
that I had made up my mind, for one, that, under no 
circumstances, would I consent to the further extension 
of the area of slavery in the United States, or to the 
further increase of slave representation in the House of 
Eepresentatives." 

Mr. Corwin, too, arguing in the Senate against this 
bill, said : 

" Now, if we can make any law whatever, not con- 
trary to the express prohibitions of the Constitution, we 
can enact that a man with $60,000 worth of bank 
notes of Maryland shall forfeit the whole amount if he 
attempts to pass one of them in the territory of Califor- 
nia. We may say, if a man carry a menagerie of wild 
beasts there, worth $500,000, and undertakes to exhibit 
them there, he shall forfeit them. The man comes back 
with his menagerie, and says that the law forbade him 
to exhibit his animals there ; it was thought that, as 
an economical arrangement, such things should not be 
tole-mted there. That you may do. He of the lions 
and tigers goes back, having lost his whole concern. 
Bu1 now you take a slave to California, and instantly 
your power fails ; all the power of the sovereignty of 
this country is impotent to stop him. That is a 
strange sort of argument to me. It has always been 
considered that when a State forms its constitution it 



40 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

can exclude slavery. Why so ? Becaiises it chances 
to consider it an evil. If it be a proper subject of le- 
gislation in a State, and we have absolute legislative 
power, transferred to us by virtue of this bloody power 
of conquest, as some say, or by purchase, as other,^ 
maintain, I ask — Why may we not act ? Again- 
considering this an abstract question — are there not du- 
ties devolving upon us, for the performance of which 
we may not be responsible to any earthly tribunal, but 
for which God, who has created us all, will hold us ac- 
countable ? What is your duty, above all others, to a 
conquered people ? You say it is your duty to give 
them a government — may you not, then, do everything 
for them which you are not forbidden to do by some 
fundamental axiomatic truth at the foundation of your 
constitution ? Show me, then, how your action is 
precluded, and I submit. Though I believe it ought 
to be otherwise, yet, if the constitution of my country 
forbids me, I yield. The constitutions of many States 
declare slavery to be an evil. Southern gentlemen 
have said, that they would have done away w4th it if 
possible, and they have apologized to the world and to 
themselves for the existence of it in their States. 
These honest old men of another day never could have 
failed to strike off the chains from every negro in the 
colonies, if it had been possible for them to do so with- 
out upturning the foundations of society. 

5,'C- i.'C- sif \fi ■>!? ?^ 

" My objection is a radical one to the institution 
everywhere. I clo believe, if there is any place upon 
the globe which we inhabit, where a white man 
cannot work, he has no business there. If that place 
is fit only for black men to work, let black men 
alone work there. I do not know any better law 
for man's good than that old one, which was an- 
nounced to man after the first transgression, that by 
the sweat of his brow he should earn his bread. I 
don't know what business men have iu the world, un- 



A B R A H A M LI N C L N. 41 

less it is to work. If any man lias no work of head or 
hand to do in this world, let him get out of it soon. 
The hog is the only gentleman who has nothing to do 
hut eat and sleep. Him we dispose of as soon as he 
is fat. Difficult as the settlement of this question 
seems to some, it is, in my judgment, only so because 
we will not look at it and treat it as an original propo- 
sition, to be decided by the influence its determination 
may have on the territories themselves. We are ever 
running away from this, and inquiring how it will af- 
fect the " slave States,'' or the " free States.'' The 
only question mainly to be considered is, How will this 
policy affect the territories for which this law is in- 
tended ? Is slavery a good thing, or is it a bad thing, 
for them ? With my views of the subject, I must con- 
sider it bad policy to plant slavery in any soil where I 
do not find it already growing. I look upon it as an 
exotic, that blights with its shade the soil in which you 
plant it ; therefore, as I am satisfied of our constitu- 
tional power to prohibit it, so I am equally certain it 
is our duty to do so." 

For these reasons, so admirably expressed by Web- 
ster and Corwin, standing by them, and agreeing with 
them, Mr. Lincoln voted to lay the territorial bills 
upon the table, when they came up there for considera- 
tion. This was on the 28th of July, and after a scene 
of great confusion and excitement. The motion to lay 
on the table was agreed to — ayes, 114 ; nays, 96. 
Among the ayes was Stephens, of Georgia, who made 
the motion. Afterward, on the 2d day of August, 
when the House bill for the organization of the Teni- 
tory of Oregon was before the House, a motion was 
made to strike out that part of the bill which extended 
the ordinance of 1787 over Oregon Territory, and Mr. 
Lincoln voted, with 113 others, to retain the ordinance. 



42 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

During the second session of the Thirtieth Congress, 
December 12, Mr. Lincoln voted for the following reso- 
lution, submitted in the House by Mr. Eckert : 

^'Resolved, That the Committee of Waj^s and 
Means be instructed to inquire into the expediency of 
reporting a Tariff Bill, based upon the principles of 
the tariff of 1842." 

On the 13th, Mr. Palfrey, of Mass., asked leave to 
introduce a bill for the repeal of all the acts of Con- 
gress establishing slavery in the District of Columbia. 
Mr. Lincoln, not believing in the expediency of inter- 
vention against slavery in the District, without com- 
pensation to the slave-owner, separated himself from 
several of his political friends, and voted against the 
proposition of Mr. Palfrey. 

THE TERRITOEIES. 

Later in the day Mr. Eoot offered the subjoined reso- 
lution : 

'^Resolved, That the Committee on Territories be 
instructed to report to this House, with as little delay 
as practicable, a bill, or bills, providing a territorial gov- 
ernment for each of the territories of New-Mexico and 
California, and excluding slavery therefrom." 

Of the action of the House this day on the slavery 
question. Dr. Bailey, of the Era, who was warmly op- 
posed to General Taylor's election, remarks : 

^' Mr. Palfrey asked leave to introduce a bill for the 
repeal of all acts of Congress, or parts of acts, estab- 
lishing or maintaining slavery or the slave-trade in the 
District of Columbia. Mr. Holmes, of South Carolina, 
objected, and the question being taken by yeas and 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 43 

nays, the vote stood, for granting leave, 70 ; against it, 
81. It will be observed that only 151 members out of 
228 voted. The House was not full, and some in their 
G^ats refused to vote. Had all the members voted, it is 
doubtful what would have been the result. It will be 
observed in our report, that very few Democrats of the 
North and West opposed the motion for leave. A few 
Northern and Western Whigs are recorded in the nega- 
tive Mr. Koot brought forward a resolu- 
tion, that the Committee on the Territories be in- 
structed to report to this House, with as little delay as 
practicable, a bill or bills, providing a territorial gov- 
ernment for each of the territories of New-Mexico and 
California, and excluding slavery therefrom. Eoot 
moved the previous question. Hall, of Missouri, moved 
to lay on the table ; Giddings, that there be a call of 
the House. The Clerk called the roll — 187 members 
answered to their names, and further proceedings in the 
call were dispensed with. The motion to lay on the 
table was lost — yeas 80, nays 107. The previous 
question was seconded, the members passing through 
the tellers." 

The motion was agreed to — ayes 106, nays 80 — Mr. 
Lincoln, as usual, standing by the slavery-restriction 
clause. 

THE GOTT RESOLUTION. 

On the 21st of December, Mr. Grott offered in the 
House the following resolution : 

" Whereas, The traffic now prosecuted in this me- 
tropolis of the Kepublic, in human beings, as chattels, 
is contrary to natural justice and the fundamental 
principles of our political system, and is notoriously a 



44 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

reproach to our country throughout Christendom, and 
a serious hinderance to the progress of republican lib- 
erty among the nations of the earth : Therefore, 

" Eesolved^ That the Committee for the District of 
Columbia be instructed to report a bill, as soon as prac- 
ticable, prohibiting the slave trade in said District/' 

The resolution having been read — 

Mr. Haralson moved that it be laid on the table. 

Mr. Went worth and Mr. Gott demanded the yeas 
and nays, which were ordered. 

And the resolution having been again read — 

The question on the motion of Mr. Haralson was 
taken, and resulted — yeas 82, nays S6. 

Mr. Lincoln, true to his own convictions of what was 
best under the circumstances, voted for the Haralson 
motion to table the resolution, wishing to accompany 
such a bill with provisions which he considered neces- 
sary to its success. 

The question then recurring on the demand for the 
previous question — 

Mr. Yinton rose to inquire of the Chair whether the 
resolution was open to amendment. 

The Speaker said it would be open to amendment 
if the previous question should not be seconded. 

The question being then taken, the demand for the 
previous question was seconded; — yeas S5, nays 49. 

Upon the question, ^^ Shall the main question [upon 
the adoption of the resolution] be now put ?" the yeas 
and nays were demanded and ordered ; and being taken, 
the yeas were 112, nays 64. 

Mr. Houston, of Alabama, and Mr. Venable, called 
for the yeas and nays ; which were ordered. 



1 



ABR AH AM LINCOLN. 45 

Mr. Donnell inquired of the Chair, if it would now 
be in order to move that there be a call of the House. 

The Speaker answered in the negative. 

And the main question, " Shall the resolution be 
adopted ?" was then taken, and decided in the affirma- 
tive — yeas 98, nays 87 — as follows : 

Yeas — Messrs. Abbott, Ashmuu, Belcher, Bingham, Blackmar, 
Blanchard, Butler, Ctinby, Cathcart, Collamer, Conger, Cranston, 
Crowell, Cummins, Darling, Dickey, Dickinson, Dixon, Daniel Duncan, 
Edwards, Embree, Nathan Evans, Faran, Farrellj, Fisher, Freedley, 
Fries, Giddings, Gott, Greeley, Gregory, Grinnell, Hale, Nathan K. Hall, 
James G. Hampton, Moses Hampton, Henley, Henry, Elias B. Holmes, 
Hubbard, Hudson, Hunt, Joseph R. Ingersoll, Irvin, James H. Johnson, 
Kellogg, Daniel P. King, Lahm, William T. Lawrence, Sidney Lawrence, 
Leffler, Lord, Lynde, McClelland, Mcllvaine, Job Mann, Horace Mann, 
Marsh, Marvin, Morris, Mullin, Newell, Nicoll, Palfrey, Peaslee, Peck, 
Pettit, Pollock, Putnam, Reynolds, Richey, Robinson, Rockhill, Julius 
Rockwell, J, A. Rockwell, Rose, Root, Rumsey, St. John, Sherrill, Sil- 
vester, Slingerland, Robert Smith, Starkweather, C. E. Stuart, Strohm, 
Tallmadge, James Thompson, William Thompson, Thurston, Tuck, 
Turner, Van Dyke, Vinton, Warren, Wentworth, White and Wilson — 98. 

Nays — Messrs. Adams, Barringer, Beale, Bedinger, Bocock, Botts, 
Bowlin, Boyd, Boydon, Bridges, William G. Brown, Charles Brown, 
Albert G, Brown, Buckner, Burt, Chapman, Chase, Franklin Clarke, 
Beverly L. Clarke, Howell Cobb, Williamson R. W. Cobb, Coke, Cris- 
field, Croziei', Daniel, Donnell, Dunn, Alexander Evans, Featherston, 
Ficklin, Flournoy, French, Fulton, Gaines, Gentry, Goggin, Green, Wil- 
lard P. Hall, Hammons, Haralson, Harmanson, Harris, Hill, George S. 
Houston, John W. Houston, Inge, Charles J. Ingersoll, Iverson, Jameson, 
Andrew Johnson, G. W. Jones, J. W. Jones, Kennon, Thomas Butler 
King, La Seie, Ligon, Lincoln, Lumpkin, McClernand, McDowell, Mc- 
Lane, Meade, Miller, Morehead, Morse, Outlaw, Pendleton, Peyton, 
Pilsbury, Preston, Sawyer, Shepperd, Simpson, Smart, Stanton, Ste- 
phens, Strong, Thibodeaux, Thomas, R. W. Thompson, Tompkins, 
Toombs, Venable, Wallace, Wiley, Wilhams, and Woodward — 88. 

So the resolution was adopted. 

The National Era, which was not inclined to show 
much mercy toward the supporters of Mr. Taylor's 



46 LIFEANDSPEECHESOF 

Administration, gave the following explanation of cer- 
tain votes cast against the resolution : 

"Men will wonder, twenty-five years hence, how 
eighty-seven men, in an American Congress, conld 
stand np before Grod, and virtually vote for the con- 
tinuance of the trade in human beings in the capital 
of the foremost Eepublic in the world. 

" We would be just, however. A few members from 
the free States voting nay feared any movement which 
might tend, in their opinion, to embarrass the question 
of slavery extension. These voted in the negative on 
the resolution, not because they were opposed to its 
object, but because they believed this object could be 
better attained, after the settlement of the question of 
slavery in the territories. While dissenting from the 
policy of these gentlemen, this statement from us is a 
simple act of justice to them." 

PUBLIC LANDS. 

On the 21st of December, Mr. McClelland in the 
House of Kepresentatives offered the subjoined resolu- 
tion : 

'^ Besolved, That the present traffic in the public 
lands should cease, and that they should be disposed 
of to occupants and cultivators, on proper conditions, 
at such a price as will nearly indemnify the cost of 
their purchase, management, and sale.'" 

The previous question was called, and a motion was 
made to lay the resolution on the table, which pre- 
vailed. Mr. Lincoln voted against tabling it, because 
he was ready to do anything which should give the 
public lands to the people, and not to the speculators. 



ABE A HAM LINCOLN. 47 



A SLAVE CASE. 

On the Gtli of January the slave case — that of An- 
tonio Pacheco — ^was reported to the House, and was 
taken up. It was a claim for the value of a slave who 
was hired by a United States officer ; betook himself 
to the everglades ; fought with the Indians against the 
whites ; was taken in arms as an enemy, and as an 
enemy sent out of the Territory, for the purpose of 
securing the lives of the inhabitants. 

Mr. Griddings, speaking of the case, recommended 
that — 

^^ The Committee on Military Affairs were unable to 
unite in a report . upon the case. Five slaveholders, 
representing slave property on this floor, and consti- 
tuting a majority of the committee, have reported a 
bill for the payment of this amount to the claimant. 
Four Northern members, representing freemen only, 
have made a minority report against the bill. This 
report, as I think, is sustained by irrefutable argu- 
ments. 

" The majority of the committee assume the position 
that slaves are regarded by the Federal Constitution 
as ^roj^erty^ and that this government and the people 
of the free States are bound to regard them as prop- 
erty, and to pay for them as we would for so many 
mules or oxen taken into the public service. The 
minority deny this doctrine. They insist that the 
Federal Constitution treats them as persons only, and 
that this government cannot constitutionally involve 
the people of the free States in the guilt of sustaining 
slavery ; that we have no constitutional powers to 
legislate upon the relation of master and slave. 

O ii:- * * 

" In 1772, Lord Mansfield boldly assailed the doc- 



48 LIFE AND SPEECHES OT 

trine laid clown in this Hall to-day, and exhibited its 
absurdity in one of the ablest opinions to be found on 
record. From that period this doctrine of property in 
man has found no supporters under the government of 
England. With all our refinement as a nation ; with 
all our boasted adherence to liberty, on this subject we 
are three quarters of a century behind our mother- 
country. 

" When Sir Warren Hastings was on trial in the 
House of Peers, in 1787, Mr. Sheridan, speaking on 
this subject, in his own peculiar and fervid eloquence, 
declared that ^ allegiance to that Power which gives us 
the forms of men, commands us to maintain the rights 
of men ; and never yet was this truth dismissed from 
the human heart — never, in any time, in any age — 
never in any clime where rude man ever had any social 
fv?elings — never was this unextinguishable truth de- 
stroyed from the heart of man, placed as it is in the 
core and centre of it by his Maker, that man luas not 
made the property of man' This was the language 
of British statesmen sixty-two years since. To-day 
we have before this branch of the American Congress 
the report of a committee avowing that, under this 
federal government, in the middle of the nineteenth 
century, ^ man is the property of his fellow-mortal' 

" These sentiments of the British statesmen and ju- 
rists inspired the hearts of our Americans patriots in 
1776, when they declared it to be a ^ self-evident 

TPwUTH THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.' When 

they framed our Constitution, they declared their ob- 
ject was ' to establish justice^ and to secure to them- 
selves and their 2^osterity the blessings of liberty.' 
This subject of holding property in me7i did not escape 
their attention, nor have they left us ignorant of their 
views in regard to it. Mr. Madison, the father of the 
Constitution, has left to us a clear and explicit account 
of their intentions. He informs us, that on 

" ' Wednesday, August 22, the Convention proceed- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 49 

V 

ed to consider tlie report of the ComiQittee of Detail, 
in relation to duties on exports, a capitation tax, and 
a navigation act. The fourth section reported was as 
follows : 

" ' No tax or duty shall he laid by the Legislature 
on articles exported from any State, nor on the migra- 
tion nor importation of such persons as the several 
States shall think proper to admit ; nor shall such mi- 
gration nor importation be prohibited/ 

" ' Mr. Gerry thought we had nothing to do with 
the conduct of the States as to slavery, but we ought to 
be careful not to give any sanction.' 

" Our people think with Mr. Grerry, that ^ we have 
nothing to do with slavery in the States.' We are de- 
termined that we will not be involved in its guilt. 
With Mr. Grerry, we intend ^ to be careful to give it no 
sanction.' No, sir ; we will not sanction your slavery 
by paying our money for the bodies of slaves. This is 
the doctrine which we hold, and which we expect to 
maintain ; yet the members of this body are now en- 
gaged in legislating upon the price of human flesh. 
If we pass this bill, we shall give our most solemn 
sanction to that institution which Gerry and his com- 
patriots detested. Will the members from Pennsyl- 
vania, the successors of Franklin and Wilson, lend 
their sanction to slavery, by voting the moneys of the 
People to pay for slaves ? 

'' But Mr. Madison tells us that ' Mr. Sherman (of 
Connecticut) was opposed to any tax on slaves, as 
making the matter worse, because it implied they were 
property.' 

^^ I understand that some gentlemen from the North 
admit that slaves are property. Mr. Sherman and the 
framers of the Constitution would do no act by which 
it could be implied that they were property. 

" Mr. Madison also participated in the discussion 
himself ; and, as he informs us, ' declared that hb 

THOUGHT IT WRONG TO ADMIT THAT THERE COULD BE 



50 LIFE A.ND SPEECHES OF 

PEOPEKTY IN men/ And the report of the Committee 
was so amended as to exclude that idea. 

^^ In that assemblage of illustrious statesmen, no 
man expressed his dissent from these doctrines of 
Gerry, of Sherman, and of Madison. These doctrines 
are : 1. That we ' should have nothing to do loith 
slavery, hut ought to he careful not to give it any sanc- 
tion.' 2. That ^ ive should do no act hy ivhich it can 
he implied that there can he property in men.' 3. 
That ^ it would be wrong for us to admit that 

THERE CAN BE PROPERTY IN MEN." Such WCre the 

views of those who framed the Constitution. They 
intended to express their views in such language as to 
be understood. Will this House stand by them ?" 

?,i i\i V '.'< ijc 

'^ With great propriety the gentleman from New- 
Hampshire inquired, at what time the liability of gov- 
ernment to pay for this slave commenced ? The ques- 
tion has not been answered, nor do I think it can be 
answered. The undertaking was hazardous in the 
highest degree. The troops were all killed but two or 
three, by the enemy, and those were supposed to be 
dead. This man alone escaped unhurt. This danger 
was foreseen, and the master put a j)rice upon the ser- 
vices to compare with the risk. Did this contract bind 
the government to pay for the master's loss, admitting 
the slave to have been property ? Was it any part of 
the compact that the government should insure the 
property ? It strikes me that no lawyer would an- 
swer in the af&rmative. The law of bailment is surely 
understood by every tyro in the profession. The bailee 
for hire is bound to exercise the same degree of care 
over the property that careful men ordinarily take of 
their own property. If, then, the property be lost, the 
owner sustains such loss. Now, conceding this man to 
be property, the government would not have been lia- 
ble, had he ran away, or been killed by accident, or 
died of sickness. Yet, sir, when property is lost or 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 51 

destroyed by tlie act of God or the common enemies of 
the country, no bailee is ever holden responsible — not 
even common carriers, and that is the highest species 
of bailment. Had this officer, acting on his own re- 
sponsibility, agreed to take this negro through the 
country for hire (admitting the man to have been 
property, and governed by the same rules of law as 
though he had been a mule or an ass), and he had been 
captured by the enemy, no law would have held such 
bailee liable. But, sir, an entirely diiferent rule of law 
prevails where the owner of a chattel lets it to a bailee 
for wages. Had this man been a mule or an ass, and 
the officer had hired him of the owner for wages, to ride 
through that country, or to work in a team, or in any 
other manner, and he had been captured by the enemy, 
the bailee would not have been liable, upon any rule of 
law or of justice ; nor would he have been liable if lost 
in any other manner, except by neglect of the bailee. 

'^ The gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Burt] 
said he would place this case upon strictly legal prin- 
ciples. Sir, I meet the gentleman on that proposition. 
I, too, for the sake of the argument, am willing to 
submit it on principles of law ; and I believe that no 
jurist, or even justice of the peace, would hesitate to 
reject the case on those grounds. AH must admit that 
the liability of the government concerning this man 
ceased when he was captured by the enemy ; up to 
this point the government was not liable, I understood 
the author of this bill [Mr. Burt] to argue, however, 
that we became liable under the contract of bailment. 
That contract was ended when the man was captured. 
The claimant then failed to perform his part of it. 
The stipulation on the part of the master was, that 
the negro should pilot the troops from Fort Brooke to 
Fort King, the place of their destination, at the rate 
of twenty-five dollars per month. He was captured 
when only half the distance was accomplished. Here 
the master ceased to perform his compact ; it was be- 



52 LIFE AND SPECHES OF 

yond his power to do so. The contract then ceased to 
exist ; and from that time forth the claimant had no 
demand on us, either in equity or in law." 

This is the Antonio Pacheco case, stated at some 
length, for it involved important principles. And here 
we call attention to the fact that Mr. Lincoln was nev- 
er found, while in Congress, violating any principle to 
which he gave his adhesion, no matter how great the 
temptation or the emergency. He did at times waive 
the assertion of a principle when he thought it would 
only result in irritation, hut he never voted a^ams^ one 
of those principles. 

The case above mentioned, came up in the House 
Nov. 6, 1849 : 

" The first business in order being the pending mo- 
tion made by Mr. Giddings for a reconsideration of the 
vote upon the engrossment of the bill to pay the heirs 
of Antonio Pacheco $1,000, as the value of a slave 
transported to the West with the Seminole Indians — 

" Mr. Griddings proceeded to address the House, hav- 
ing first declined to give way for a motion by Mr. 
Eockwell, of Connecticut, that the House should con- 
sider the bill to establish a Board for the settlement of 
private claims. 

^^ The previous question, having been moved upon 
the motion to reconsider, was then seconaed, and the 
main question ordered to be now put. 

^' Mr. Giddings, with a view to save the time of the 
House, withdrew his motion, and the question accord- 
ingly recurred upon the passage of the bill. 

" Upon this question, Mr. Dickey demande/i the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 53 

yeas and nays, which were ordered ; and the question 
being taken — 

" The Speaker announced the vote — yeas 90, nays 89. 

" The twelfth rule of the House provided, ' that in all 
cases of election by the House, the Speaker shall vote ; 
in other cases he shall not vote, unless the House be 
equally divided, or unless his vote, if given to the mi- 
nority, will make the division equal ; and in case of 
such equal division, the question shall be lost.' 

" The Speaker, proceeding to discharge the duty thus 
imposed upon him, said : 

" ^ A case has occurred in which, under the rule of 
the House, it is the duty of the Speaker to vote. The 
Speaker regrets that in this, as in many other cases, he 
has been deprived of the opportunity of listening to the 
full discussion of the question, having heard no speech 
except that which has been made this morning, the de- 
bate having taken place mainly in Committee of the 
"Whole on the private calendar. 

^^ ' The Speaker also has had little opportunity, if 
any, to turn his attention to the principles or the facts 
involved in this case. He cannot shrink, however, 
from giving his vote. But it is a well-admitted par- 
liamentary principle, laid down in the books, that 
where the Speaker has any doubt in relation to a 
question, his vote shall be given in such a way as not 
finally to conclude it. It shall be given in such a way 
that the consideration of the question may be again 
open to the House, if the House, under any circum- 
stances, shall choose to reconsider it. 

" ' The Speaker takes the opportunity to say, that 
lie does not concur in full with either of the principles 



54 LIFEANDSPEECHESOF 

whicli have "been maintained on both sides of the House. 
So far as the circumstances of the case have come to 
his knowledge, he doubts exceedingly whether the 
question of property in slaves is involved. And it has 
been to him a matter of great doubt, from such part of 
the arguments as he has heard ' 

" At this point of his remarks, the Speaker was in- 
terrupted by the Clerk, who showed him a paper con- 
taining the state of the vote. 

" The Speaker said the Clerk was mistaken in the 
vote. The vote stands — ninety-one in the affirmative, 
eighty-nine in the negative. 

" So the bill was declared to be passed, Mr. Lin- 
coln voting against the passage. 

" Mr. Burt moved a reconsideration of the vote just 
taken, and that the motion be laid upon the table ; 
and also moved, that before the vote be taken, there 
should be a call of the House. 

^^ Mr. Palfrey appealed to the gentleman from South 
Carolina to allow him the floor a moment, but Mr. 
Burt peremptorily declined. 

" Mr. Wentworth demanded the yeas and nays upon 
the motion for a call of the House, and being ordered 
and taken, the result was, yeas 78, nays 105. So the 
call was refused. 

'^ Mr. Burt, with a view, as he said, to save the time 
of the House, withdrew his motion for reconsideration. 

"Mr. Cocke renewed" the motion, and moved that it 
be laid on the table. 

" Mr. Palfrey moved a call of the House, when 

" Mr. Cocke withdrew his motion for reconsidera- 
tion ; and, after some conversation upon points of or- 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 55 

der, the whole subject was dropped, and the bill was 
considered passed. 

" Mr. Wentworth rose (he said) to a privileged ques- 
tion, and said that a mistake had been discovered at 
the Clerk's desk, in the vote upon the passage of the 
bill for the relief of the legal representatives of An- 
tonio Pacheco. He asked that the journal might be 
corrected. 

^' The Speaker stated that corrections of the journal 
would be in order on Monday morning, after the read- 
ing of the journal. 

" Mr. Wentworth asked if it would not be in order 
now to make a correction in the vote. 

"^ The Speaker replied that it would. 

" On motion of Mr. Stephens, the House adjourned.'* 

On the following Monday, immediately after the 
reading of the journal, the Speaker said : 

^' The House will, remember that the vote on the 
passage of the bill for the relief of the heirs of An- 
tonio Pacheco, was originally made up by the Clerk, 
yeas 90, nays 89; and this record having been handed 
to the Speaker, and by him announced to the House, 
the Speaker proceeded to make some remarks upon the 
bill, preparatory to giving the vote contemplated in 
such cases by the rules of the House. While in the 
act of explanation, the Speaker was interrupted by the 
Clerk, who stated that, on a more careful count, the 
vote was found to be yeas 91, nays 89. The interven- 
tion of the Speaker was therefore no longer allowable, 
and the bill was declared to have passed the House. 

'^ The Chair takes the earliest opportunity to state 
to the House, this morning, that, upon a re-examina- 



56 LIFE AND SPEECHES OP 

tion of the yeas and nays, the Clerk has ascertained 
that an error was still made in the announcement of 
the vote on Saturday. The vote actually stood, yeas 
89; nays 89. The correction will now, accordingly, be 
made in the journal ; and a case is immediately pre- 
sented, agreeably to the 12th rule of the House, for 
the interposition of the Speaker's vote. 

" At this stage of the proceedings, the Speaker was 
interrupted by 

" Mr. Farrelly, who rose and called for a further cor- 
rection of the journal, stating that he voted in the 
negative on Saturday last, and his vote appeared not 
to have been recorded. 

" The Speaker decided that it was the right of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania to have his vote recorded, 
if he voted on Saturday last. 

" And the correction was accordingly made. 

" The vote was then finally announced — ^yeas 89, 
nays 90. 

'' The Speaker stated that he came into the House 
this morning with the full expectation of giving his 
vote upon this bill, and prepared to give his reasons 
for the vote. But, as the question now stood, although 
it might be in his power to vote agreeably to the letter 
of the 12th rule, it was, in his opinion, not within the 
contemplation or intention of the rule that he should 
vote. The rule contemplated that the Speaker should 
be allowed to vote whenever he could make a difference 
in the result — wherever his vote would either pass or 
prevent the passage of the proposition before the 
House. Under present circumstances, the Speaker's 
vote could not in any way affect the decision of the 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 57 

House. The bill was already lost by the vote as it 
stood. A vote against the bill would only increase the 
majority by which it was defeated ; while a vote in 
favor of the bill would only make a tie, and the bill 
would still be lost. The Speaker, therefore, did not 
consider himself called upon to give any vote on the 
subject.'" 

Subsequently the case came up again, on a motion 
to reconsider, and the bill was passed, ayes 98, nays 
92 — Mr. Lincoln voting no. 

LINCOLN'S AMENDMENT TO GoTT'S KESOLUTION. 

On the 16th of January, the celebrated Gott resolu- 
tion against the slave-trade in the District of Colum- 
bia, was again before the House, a motion to reconsider 
having been entertained previously, and the considera- 
tion of the motion having been postponed to this day. 
It will be remembered that Mr. Lincoln voted to table 
the original resolution, not liking its terms. He now, 
by the courtesy of his colleague, Mr. Wentworth, 
who had the floor, offered the subjoined resolution as a 
substitute for the Gott resolution : 

" Resolved, That the Committee on the District of 
Columbia be instructed to report a bill in substance as 
follows : 

^^ Sec. 1. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of 
Bepresentatives of the United States in Congress as- 
sembled, That no person not now within the District of 
Columbia, nor now owned by any person or persons now 
resident within it, nor hereafter born within it, shall 
ever be held in slavery within said District. 

" Sec. 2. That no person now within said Distriei or 

3. 



58 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

now owned by any person or persons now resident with- 
in the same, or hereafter horn within it, shall ever be 
held in slavery without the limits of said District. 
Provided, That officers of the government of the 
United States, being citizens of the slaveholding States, 
coming into said District on public business, and re- 
maining only so long as may be reasonably necessary 
for that object, may be attended into and out of said 
District, and while there, by the necessary servants of 
themselves and their families, without their right to 
hold such servants in service being thereby impaired. 

" Sec. 3. That all children born of slave mothers 
within said District, on or after the first day of January, 
in the year of our Lord 1850, shall be free ; but shall 
be reasonably supported and educated by the respective 
owners of their mothers or by their heirs and represent- 
atives until they respectively arrive at the age of 

years, when they shall be entirely free. And the muni- 
cipal authorities of Washington and Georgetown, within 
their respective jurisdictional limits, are hereby em- 
powered and required to make all suitable and neces- 
sary provisions for enforcing obedience to this section, 
on the part of both masters and apprentices. 

" Sec. 4. That all persons now within said District, 
lawfully held as slaves, or now owned by any person or 
persons now resident within said District, shall remain 
such at the will of their respective owners, their heirs 
and legal representatives. Provided, That any such 
owner, or his legal representatives, may at any time re- 
ceive from the treasury of the United States the full 
value of his or her slave of the class in this section 
mentioned ; upon which such slave shall be forthwith 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 59 

and for ever free. And provided further, That the 
President of the United States, the Secretary of State, 
and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be a board, 
for determiniog the value of such slaves as their own- 
ers may desire to emancipate under this section, and 
whose duty it shall be to hold a session for the pur- 
pose, on the first Monday of each calendar month ; to 
receive all applications and on satisfactory evidence in 
each case, that the person presented for valuation is a 
slave, and of the class in this section mentioned, and is 
owned by the applicant, shall value such slave at his or 
her full cash value and give to the applicant an order 
on the treasury for the amount and also to such slave 
a certificate of freedom. 

" Sec. 5. That the municipal authorities of Washing- 
ton and Georgetown within their respective jurisdic- 
tional limits, are hereby empowered and re(][uired to 
provide active and efficient means to assert and deliver 
up to their owners all fugitive slaves escaping into said 
District. 

" Sec. 6. That the election officers within said District 
of Columbia are hereby empowered and required to 
open polls at all the usual places of holding elections 
on the first Monday of April next and receive the vote 
of every free white male citizen above the age of twen- 
ty-one years, having resided within said district for the 
period of one year or more next preceding the time of 
such voting for or against this act, to proceed in taking 
said votes in all respects herein not specified, as at elec- 
tions under the municipal laws, and with as little delay 
as possible to transmit correct statements of the votes 
so cast to the President of the United States ; and it 



60 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

shall be tlie duty of the President to canvass said votes 
immediately and if a majority of them be found to be 
for this act to forthwith issue his proclamation, giving 
notice of the fact, and this act shall only be in full 
force and effect on and after the day of such procla- 
mation. 

'^ Sec. 7. That involuntary servitude for the punish- 
ment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall in nowise be prohibited by this act. 

'^ Sec. 8. That for all the purposes of this act the 
jurisdictional limits of Vf ashington are extended to all 
parts of the District of Columbia not now included 
within the present limits of Georgetown.'' 

This bill shows us the real position of Mr. Lincoln 
on the slavery question, in 1849. He was opposed to 
the institution, to its extension into the territories, and 
was in favor of its abolition in the District of Colum- 
bia, but with compensation to the owner. He was for 
reform, but was a cautious, conservative reformer. 

On the 31st of January, Mr. Edwards, of the Com- 
mittee on the District of Columbia, reported a bill to 
prohibit the introduction of slaves into the District of 
Columbia as merchandise, or for sale or hire. After it 
was read twice a motion was made to lay it on the 
table, which motion was lost, Mr. Lincoln again vot- 
ing no. 

On the 21st of February, a test vote was taken in the 
House on a biU to abolish the franking jorivilege. The 
motion was made to lay the bill on the table. Mr. 
Lincoln voted v/ith the friends of the bill, who saved 
it froan immediate defeat. 

The reader will easily discover Mr. Lincoln's position 



ABRAHAMLINCOLN. 61 

in Congress upon the more important subjects before it 
in this record. On the slavery question he was always 
true to his principles, ever voting against the extension 
of slavery, and on the Mexican war occupying the 
ground of the Whigs of that day ; refusing to justify 
the war itself, but voting the supplies for it, that the 
war debt might be liquidated. 

He steadily and earnestly opposed the annexation of 
Texas, and labored with all his powers in behalf of the 
Wilmot Proviso. 

TEN YEARS AT HOME. 

In the National Convention of 1848, of which he was 
a member, he advocated the nomination of General 
Taylor, and sustained the nomination by an active can- 
vass in Illinois and Indiana. 

From 1849 to 1854 Mr. Lincoln was engaged assidu- 
ously in the practice of his profession, and being deeply 
immersed in business, was beginning to lose his interest 
in politics, when the scheming ambition and grovelling 
selfishness of an unscrupulous aspirant to the Presi- 
dency brought about the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise. That act of baseness and perfidy aroused 
him, and he prepared for new efforts. He threw him- 
self at once into the contest that followed, and fought 
the battle of freedom on the ground of his former con- 
flicts in Illinois with more than his accustomed energy 
and zeal. Those who recollect the tremendous battle 
fought in Illinois that year, will award to Abraham 
Lincoln fully three fourths of the ability and unweary- 
ing labor which resulted in the mighty victory which 
gave Illinois her first Eepublican Legislature, and 



62 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

placed Lyman Trumbull in the Senate of the United 
States. 

The Chicago Tribune, the editor of which is a per- 
sonal friend of Mr. Lincoln, and from whom we gather 
many of the facts of the early life of the subject of this 
volume, gives the following graphic sketches of the 
Illinois Campaign of 1854 : 

" The first and greatest debate of that year came off 
between Lincoln and Douglas at Springfield, during the 
progress of the State Fair, in October. We remember 
the event as vividly as though it transpired yesterday, 
and in view of the prominence now given to the chief 
actor in that exciting event, it cannot fail to be in- 
teresting to all. 

" The afi'air came off on the fourth day of October, 
1854. The State Fair had been in progress two days, 
and the capital was full of all manner of men. The 
Nebraska bill had been passed on the previous twenty- 
second of May. Mr. Douglas had returned to Illinois 
to meet an outraged constituency. He had made a 
fragmentary speech in Chicago, the people filling up 
each hiatus in a peculiar and good-humored way. He 
called the people a mob — they called him a rowdy. 
The ' mob ' had the best of it, both then and at the 
election which succeeded. The notoriety of all these 
events had stirred up the politics of the State from 
bottom to top. Hundreds of politicians had met at 
Springfield, expecting a tournament of an unusual 
character — Douglas, Breese, Koerner, Lincoln, Trum- 
bull, Matteson, Yates, Codding, John Calhoun (of the 
order of the candle-box), John M. Palmer, the whole 
house of the McConnells, Singleton (known to fame 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 63 

in the Mormon war), Thomas L. Harris, and a host of 
others. Several speeches were made before, and several 
after, the passage between Lincoln and Douglas, but 
that was justly held to be the event of the season. 

" We do not remember whether a challenge to de- 
bate passed between the friends of the speakers or not, 
but there was a perfectly amicable understanding be- 
tween Lincoln and Douglas, that the former should 
speak two or three hours, and the latter reply in just 
as little or as much time as he chose. Mr. Lincoln 
took the stand at two o'clock — a large crowd in atten- 
dance, and Mr. Douglas seated on a small platform in 
front of the desk. The first half-hour of Mr. Lincoln's 
speech was taken up with compliments to his distin- 
guished friend Judge Douglas, and dry allusions to the 
political events of the past few years. His distin- 
guished friend. Judge Douglas, had taken his seat, as 
solemn as the Cock-Lane ghost, evidently with the de- 
sign of not moving a muscle till it came his turn to 
speak. The laughter provoked by Lincoln's exordium, 
however, soon began to make him uneasy ; and when 
Mr. L, arrived at his (Douglas') speech, pronouncing 
the Missouri Compromise 'a sacred thing, which no 
ruthless hand would ever be reckless enough to disturb,' 
he opened his lips far enough to remark, ^ A first-rate 
speech!' This was the beginning of an amusing col- 
loquy. 

^' ^ Yes,' continued Mr. Lincoln, ' so affectionate was 
my friend's regard for this compromise line, that when 
Texas was admitted into the Union, and it was found 
that a strip extended north of 36° 30' he actually in- 



64 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

troduced a bill extending the line and prohibiting sla- 
very in the northern edge of the new State/ 

" ' And you voted against the bill/ said Douglas. 

^^ ^ Precisely so/ replied Lincoln; ' I was in favor of 
running the line a great deal farther South.* 

" ^ About this time/ the speaker continued, ' my 
distinguished friend introduced me to a particular 
friend of his, one David Wilmot of Pennsylvania/ 
(Laughter.) 

" ^ I thought/ said Douglas, ^ you would find him 
congenial compan}^' 

" ' So I did/ replied Lincoln. ^ I had the pleasure of 
voting for his Proviso, in one way and another about 
forty times. It was a Democratic measure then, I be- 
lieve. At any rate, General Cass scolded Honest 
John Davis, of Massachusetts, soundly, for taking 
away the last hours of the session so that he (Cass) 
couldn't crowd it through. Apropos of General Cass : 
if I am not greatly mistaken, he has a prior claim to 
my distinguished friend, to the authorship of Popular 
Sovereignty. The old general has an infirmity for 
writing letters. Shortly after the scolding he gave 
John Davis, he wrote his Nicholson letter — ' 

" Douglas (solemnly) — ^ God Almighty placed man 
on the earth, and told him to choose between good and 
evil. That was the origin of the Nebraska bill V 

" Lincoln — "' Well, the priority of invention being 
settled, let us award all credit to Judge Douglas for 
being the first to discover it.' 

^^ It would be impossible, in these limits, to give an 
idea of the strength of Mr. Lincoln's argument. We 
deemed it by far the ablest effort of the campaign — from 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 65 

whatever source. The occasion was a great one, and 
the speaker was every way equal to it. The effect pro- 
duced on the listeners was magnetic. No one who was 
present will ever forget the power and vehemence of 
the following passage : 

'' ' My distinguished friend says it is an insult to the 
emigrants to Kansas and Nebraska to suppose they 
are not able to govern themselves. "We must not slur 
over an argument of this kind because it happens to 
tickle the ear. It must be met and answered. I ad- 
mit that the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is com- 
petent to govern himself, but/ the speaker rising to his 
full height, ' I deny Ms right to govern any other person 
WITHOUT THAT peeson's CONSENT.' The applause 
which followed this triumphant refutation of a cunning 
falsehood, was but an earnest of the victory at the 
polls which followed just one month from that day. 

" When Mr. Lincoln had concluded, Mr. Douglas 
strode hastily to the stand. As usual, he employed 
ten minutes in telling how grossly he had been abused. 
EecoUecting himself, he added, ^ though in a perfectly 
courteous manner ' — abused in a perfectly courteous 
manner! He then devoted half an hour to showing 
that it was indispensably necessary to California emi- 
grants, Sante Fe traders and others, to have organic 
acts provided for the territories of Kansas and Ne- 
braska — that being precisely the point which nobody 
disputed. Having established this premiss to his satis- 
faction, Mr. Douglas launched forth into an argument 
wholly apart from the positions taken by Mr. Lincoln. 
He had about half finished at six o'clock, when an ad- 
journment to tea was effected. The speaker insisted 



66 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

strenuously upon liis riglit to resume in the evening, 
but we believe the second part of that speech has not 
been delivered to this day. After the Springfield pas- 
sage, the two speakers went to Peoria, and tried it 
again, with identically the same results. A friend, 
who listened to the Peoria debate, informed us that 
after Lincoln had finished, Douglas ^ hadnH much to 
say ' — which we presume to have been Mr. Douglas' 
view of the case also, for the reason that he ran away 
from his antagonist and kept out of the way during 
the remainder of the campaign. 

" During this exciting campaign Mr. Lincoln pressed 
the slavery issue upon the people of Central and South- 
ern Illinois, who were largely made up of the emigra- 
tion from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North 
Carolina, with all the powers of his mind. He felt the 
force of the moral causes that must influence the ques- 
tion, and he never failed to appeal to the moral senti- 
ment of the people in aid of the argument drawn from 
political sources, and to illuminate his theme with the 
lofty inspirations of an eloquence, pleading for the 
rights of humanity. A revolution swept the State. 
For the first time a majority of the Legislature of Illi- 
nois was opposed to the Democratic administration of 
the federal government. A United States Senator 
was to be elected in place of General Shields who had 
yielded to the influence of his less scrupulous colleague, 
and, against his own better judgment, had voted for the 
Kansas-Nebraska act. The election came on, and a 
number of ballots were taken, the almost united oppo- 
sition voting steadily for Lincoln, but the anti-Nebras- 
ka Democrats for Trumbull. Mr. Lincoln became ap- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 67 

preliensive that those men who had been elected as 
Democrats^ though opposed to Judge Douglas, would 
turn upon some third candidate, of less decided convic- 
tions than Judge Trumbull, and possibly elect a Sena- 
tor who had little or nothing in common with the then 
inchoate Kepublican party. To prevent such a con- 
summation, he went personally to his friends, and by 
strong persuasion, induced them to vote for Trumbull. 

" He thus secured, by an act of generous self-sacri- 
fice, a triumph for the cause of right, and an advocate 
of it on the floor of the Senate, not inferior, in earnest 
zeal for the principles of Eepublicanism, to any mem- 
ber of that body. 

" Some of his friends on the floor of the Legislature 
wept like children when constrained by Mr. Lincoln's 
personal appeals to desert him and unite on Trumbull. 
It is proper to say in this connection, that between 
Trumbull and Lincoln the most cordial relations have 
always existed, and that the feeling of envy or rivalry 
is not to be found in the breast of either." 

At the Peoria debate alluded to above, the arrange- 
ment was that Douglas should speak as long as he 
pleased, then that Lincoln should do the same, and that 
Douglas should have an hour to close. Douglas com- 
menced at 2 o'clock and spoke till six, wearing away 
the time in a tedious speech, hoping that the farmers, 
who had come in from the country, would not stay to 
hear Mr. Lincoln's reply. As soon as Douglas had 
concluded his speech, the vast crowd who had patiently 
listened to him divided, the Democrats at once leaving 
in great numbers for the country, while the Whigs and 
Free- Sellers remained and loudly called for Lincoln. 



68 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Mr. L., nothing vexed by the consumption by Douglas 
of the whole afternoon, when no one expected that he 
would occupy more than an hour and a half or two 
hours, proposed that the crowd adjourn for tea, which 
they very reluctantly did. After half an hour the crowd 
again assembled, and Mr. Lincoln took the stand, and 
for three hours continued to entrance his hearers by ir- 
resistible logic and strains of eloquence never before ex- 
celled in any of his public efforts. The whole territo- 
rial history of the country was reviewed, and the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska bill, then recently passed, was dissected 
in a manner such as has never been surpassed in the 
halls of Congress. Never since, in all the discus- 
sions, innumerable and interminable, of that subject in 
the intervening six years, have the inconsistencies of 
Judge Douglas been shown up as they were then, but 
all in the utmost good nature. Since then Douglas has 
invented new subterfuges, but before that audience, all 
his political tricks and dodges in connection with that 
bill were thoroughly exposed. 

About half-past nine, Douglas rose to take his hour. 
It was evident he had no heart for the undertaking. 
He beat a most handsome retreat. He complained of 
his voice, which he said would not permit of his oc- 
cupying his hour ; he complimented the city of Peoria 
— the intelligence of its citizens, and the natural beauty 
of its location, which, of course, brought down cheers 
for him ; he complimented Lincoln ; he spoke of the 
fact that in the cemetery adjacent to the city rested 
the remains of the lamented Governor Ford — in short, 
he devoted a quarter of an hour to putting the au- 
dience in good humor with him, and then, without at- 



/ 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 69 

tempting a reply to his antagonist's crushing argu- 
ments, bid his audience good night. 

Mr. Lincoln expected to meet Mr. Douglas next at 
Lacon, or Henry, north of Peoria, on the Illinois 
river ; but the " Little Giant" had had enough of 
" Old Abe" that year, and did not give the latter an- 
other opportunity of meeting him during the season. 

Mr. Lincoln was offered the nomination for Gover- 
nor by the Anti-Nebraska (the future Kepublican) 
party in 1854 ; but he told his friends, " No — I am 
not the man ; Bissell will make a better Governor 
than I, and you can elect him on account of his Demo- 
cratic antecedents." So, giving to Bissell the flag it 
was universally desired that he should bear, he himself 
took the sword, and hewed a way for the triumph of 
that year. 



70 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 



PAET THIKD. 

THE GREAT SENATORIAL CONTEST. 

In the summer of 1858, the great Senatorial contest 
of Illinois took place between Mr. Douglas on the one 
hand, and Mr. Lincoln on the other. The rebellion of 
Mr. Douglas in the U. S. Senate against the adminis- 
tration — his refusal to assist in the perpetration of the 
Lecompton fraud, insured him the enmity of the ad- 
ministration ; but in spite of this, his position gave 
him immense strength both in and outside of Illinois. 
Prominent Kepublicans in other States were disposed 
to see him returned to the Senate as a rebuke to the 
administration, vainly hoping that Mr. D. would aban 
don the Democratic party. Mr. Crittenden wrote a 
letter advising the Americans or old Whigs of Illinois 
to vote for Douglas, and in consequence of this outside 
pressure there can be no doubt that Mr. Douglas was 
stronger by ten thousand votes as a rebel, than he 
would have been as an administration favorite. 

All who know anything at all of Mr. Douglas are 
aware that as a political debater, either on the stump 
or on the Senate floor, he has no superior, if he has an 
equal, in the country. It was, then, no light matter 
to contest the State of Illinois with such a man as Mr. 
Douglas, and especially under the circumstances, when 
the masses of the people sympathized with Mr. D. in 
his quarrel with the administration. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 71^ 

A Kepublican State Convention met at Springfield, 
Illinois, June 2, 1858, and put Mr. Lincoln in nomina- 
tion as the Kepublican candidate for United States 
Senator. The Convention also adopted the subjoined 
platform : 

THE ILLINOIS PLATFOEM. 

^' We, the Kepublicans of Illinois, in Convention 
assembled, in addition to our previous affirmations, 
make the following declaration of our principles : 

" 1. We reaffirm our devotion to the Constitution of 
the country, and to the union of the States, and will 
steadily resist aU attempts for the perversion of the one 
and the disruption of the other. We recognize the 
equal rights of all the States, and avow our readiness 
and willingness to maintain them ; and disclaim aU 
intention of attempting, either directly or indirectly, 
to assail or abridge the rights of any of the members of 
the confederacy guaranteed by the Constitution, or in 
any manner to interfere with the institution of slavery 
in the States where it exists. Nevertheless, we hold 
that the government was instituted for freemen, and 
that it can be perpetuated, and made to fulfil the pur- 
poses of its organization only by devoting itself to the 
promotion of virtue and intelligence among its citizens, 
and the advancement of their prosperity and happiness ; 
and to these ends, we hold it to be the duty of the gov- 
ernment so to reform the system of disposing of the 
public lands as to secure the soil to actual settlers, and 
wrest it from the grasp of men who speculate in the 
homes of the people, and from corporations that lock 
it up in dead hands for enhanced profits. 

"2. Free labor being the only true support of repub- 
lican institutions, our government should maintain its 
rights ; and we therefore demand the improvement of 
our harbors and rivers which freight the commerce of 
the West to a market, and the construction of a centra] 



72 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

higliway, to connect our trade with tlie Pacific States, 
as riglitful encouragement to home industry ; and, in- 
asmuch as we now compete in the markets of the whole 
country against the products of unpaid labor, at depre- 
ciating prices, it is therefore eminently unjust that the 
I^ational Administration should attempt, by coercion, 
to extend a servile system in the territories, or, by pa- 
tronage, to perpetuate^ slavery in the States. 

'' 3. The present administration has proved recreant 
to the trusts committed to its hands, and by its extra- 
ordinary, corrupt, unjust, and undignified, exertions, 
to give effect to the original intention and purpose of 
the Kansas-Nebraska bill, by forcing upon the people 
of Kansas, against their will, and in defiance of their 
known and earnestly-expressed wishes, a constitution 
recognizing slavery as one of their domestic institutions, 
it has forfeited all claim to the support of the friends 
of free men, free labor, and equal rights. 

'^4. It is the duty of the government faithfully and 
diligently to execute all our treaty stipulations, and to 
enforce all our laws for the suppression of the slave- 
trade. 

"5. While we deprecate all interference on the 
part of political organizations with the action of the 
Judiciary, if such action is limited to its appropriate 
sphere, yet we cannot refrain from expressing our con- 
demnation of the principles and tendencies of the extra 
judicial opinions of a majority of the Judges of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, in the matter of 
Dred Scott, wherein the political heresy is put forth, 
that the Federal Constitution extends -slavery into all 
the territories of the Kepublic, and so maintains it thai 
neither Congress nor people, through their territorial 
legislature, can by law abolish it. We hold that Con- 
gress possesses sovereign power over the territories 
while they remain in a territorial condition ; and thai 
it is the duty of the general government to protect the 
territories from the curse of slavery, and to preserve 



ABRA PI AM LINCOLN. 73 

the public domain for the occupation of free men and 
free labor. And we declare that no power on earth can 
carry and maintain slavery in the States against the 
will of the people and the provisions of their constitu- 
tions and laws ; and we fully endorse the recent decis- 
ion of the Supreme Court of our own State, which 
declares, " that property in persons is repugnant to the 
constitution and laws of Illinois, and that all persons 
within its jurisdiction are supposed to be free ; ai d 
that slavery, where it exists, is a municipal regulation, 
without any extra-territorial operation. 

'' 6. The policy of this government should be, to live 
on terms of peace and amity with all the nations of the 
earth, so far as it can be done consistently w4th our 
national honor and interest, and to enter into entang- 
ling alliances with none. Our intercourse with oth.T 
nations should be conducted upon principles of exact 
and exalted justice ; and while firmly maintaining our 
own rights, we should carefully avoid any invasion of 
the rights of others, and especially those of weaker na- 
tions. Our commerce ought to be protected from wan- 
ton interruption, and our commercial marine from 
invasion and search ; and while we would deplore the 
necessity of war with any of the nations of the earth, 
we will still firmly, zealously, and patriotically, sustain 
the government in any just measures which it may so 
adopt, to obtain redress for indignities which may here- 
tofore have baen inllicted upon our citizens navigating 
the seas, or which may be necessary to secure them 
ag^vinst a repetition of like injuries in the future. 

" 7. We view, with regret and alarm, the rapidly- 
increasing expenditures of the general government, 
whioh now, in a state of profound peace, threaten the 
country with national bankruptcy ; and we pledge our- 
selves, so far as we speak for the Kepublicans of Illinoi 3, 
to a thorough and radical reform in the administration 
of the government finances, in the event that the Eepub- 
licans are intrusted with the care of national affairs." 



74 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Mr. Lincoln delivered an able speecli to tlie Conven- 
tion, which might be said to open the campaign. 

On the 24th of July, Mr. Lincoln initiated the cor- 
respondence which follows, by sending the letter which 
is the first of the series : 

DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN COERESPONDENCE. 
Mr. Lincoln to Mr. Douglas. 

Chicago, III., July 24, 1858. 
Hon. S. A. Douglas : 

My Dear Sir — Will it be agreeable to you to make 
an arrangement for you and myself to divide time, and 
address the same audiences the present canvass ? Mr. 
Judd, who will hand you this, is authorized to receive 
your answer ; and, if agreeable to you, to enter into 
the terms of such arrangement. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

Mr. Douglas to Mr. Lincoln. 

Chicago, July 24, 1858. 
Hon. A. Lincoln : 

Dear Sir — Your note of this date, in which you in- 
quire if it would be agreeable to me to make an 
arrangement to divide the time and address the same 
audiences during the present canvass, was handed me 
by Mr. Judd. Kecent events have interposed difficul- 
ties in the way of such an arrangement . 

I went to Springfield last week for the purj)ose of 
conferring with the Democratic State Central Com- 
mittee upon the mode of conducting the canvass, and 
with them, and under their advice, made a list of ap- 
pointments covering the entire period until late in Oc- 
tober. The people of the several localities have been 
notified of the times and places of the meetings. These 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 75 

appointments have all been made for Democratic meet- 
ings, and arrangements have been made by which the 
Democratic candidates for Congress, for the Legisla- 
ture, and other offices, will be present and address the 
people. It is evident, therefore, that these various 
candidates, in connection with myself, will occupy the 
whole time of the day and evening, and leave no oppoi- 
tunity for other speeches. 

Besides, there is another consideration which should 
be kept in mind. It has been suggested, recently, that 
an arrangement had been made to bring out a third 
candidate for the United States Senate, who, with 
yourself, should canvass the State in opposition to me, 
with no other purpose than to insure my defeat, by di- 
viding the Democratic party for your benefit. If I 
should make this arrangement with you, it is more 
than probable that this other candidate, who has a 
common object with you, would desire to become a 
party to it, and claim the right to speak from the same 
stand ; so that he and you, in concert, might be able 
to take the opening and closing speech in every case. 

I cannot refrain from expressing my surprise, if it 
was your original intention to invite such an arrange- 
ment, that you should have waited until after I had 
made my appointments, inasmuch as we were both here 
in Chicago together for several days after my arrival, 
and again at Bloomington, Atlanta, Lincoln, and 
Springfield, where it was well known I went for the 
purpose of consulting with the State Central Com- 
mittee, and agreeing upon the plan of the campaign. 

While, under these circumstances, I do not feel at 
liberty to make any arrangements which would deprive 
the Democratic candidates for Congress, State officers, 
and the Legislature, from participating in the discus- 
sion at the various meetings designated by the Demo- 
cratic State Central Committee, I will, in order to ac- 
commodate you, as far as it is in my power to do so, 
take the responsibility of making an arrangement with 



76 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

you for a discussion between us at one prominent point 
in each. Congressional District in the State, except the 
second and sixth districts, where we have both spoken, 
and in each of which cases you had the concluding 
speech. If agreeable to you, I will indicate the fol- 
lowing places as those most suitable in the several Con- 
gressional Districts, at which we should speak, to wit : 
Freeport, Ottawa, Galesburgh, Quincy, Alton, Jones- 
boro', and Charleston. I will confer with you at the 
earliest convenient opportunity in regard to the mode 
of conducting the debate, the times of meeting at the 
several places, subject to the condition, that where ap- 
pointments have already been made by the Democratic 
State Central Committee at any of those places, I must 
insist upon your meeting me at the time specified. 
Yery respectfully. 

Your most obedient servant, 

S. A. Douglas. 

Mr. Lincoln to Mr. Douglas. 

Springfield, July 29, 1858. 
Hon. S. A. Douglas : 

Dear Sir — Yours of the 24th, in relation to an 
arrangement to divide time, and address the same au- 
diences, is received ; and, in apology for not sooner re- 
plying, allow me to say, that when I sat by you at 
dinner yesterday, I was not aware that you had an- 
swered my note, nor, certainly, that my own note had 
been presented to you. An hour after, I saw a copy of 
your answer in the Chicago Times, and, reaching home, 
I found the original awaiting me. Protesting that 
your insinuations of attempted unfairness on my part 
are unjust, and with the hope that you did not very 
considerately make them, I proceed to reply. To your 
statement that ^^ It has been suggested, recently, that an 
arrangement had been made to bring out a third candi- 
date for the U. S. Senate, who, with yourself, should 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 77 

canvass tlie State in opposition to me," etc., I can only 
say, that such suggestion must have been made by 
yourself, for certainly none such has been made by or 
to me, or otherwise, to my knowledge. Surely you did 
not deliberately conclude, as you insinuate, that I was 
expecting to draw you into an arrangement of terms, 
to be agreed on by yourself, hj which a third candidate 
and myself, " in concert, might be able to take the open- 
ing and closing speech in every case." 

As to your surprise that I did not sooner make the 
proposal to divide time with you, I can only say, I made 
it as soon as I resolved to make it. I did not know but 
that such proposal would come from you ; I waited, 
respectfully, to see. It may have been well known to 
you that you went to Springfield for the purpose of 
agreeing on the plan of campaign ; but it was not so 
known to me. When your appointments were an- 
nounced in the papers, extending only to the 21st of 
August, I, for the first time, considered it certain that 
you would make no proposal to me, and then resolved 
that, if my friends concurred, I would make one to 
you. As soon thereafter as I could see and consult 
with friends satisfactorily, I did make the proposal. It 
did not occur to me that the proposed arrangement 
could derange your plans after the latest of your ap- 
pointments already made. After that, there was, before 
the election, largely over two months of clear time. 

For you to say that we have already spoken at Chi- 
cago and Springfield, and that on both occasions I had 
the concluding speech, is hardly a fair statement. The 
truth rather is this : At Chicago, July 9th, you made 
a carefully-prepared concluGion on my speech of June 
16th. Twenty-four hours after, I made a hasty conclu- 
sion on yours of the 9th. You had six days to pre- 
pare, and concluded on me again at Bloomington on 
the 16th. Twenty-four hours after I concluded again 
on you at Springfield. In the meantime, you had 
made another conclusion on me at Springfield, which I 



78 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

did not hear, and of tliie contents of wliicTi I knew 
nothing when I spoke ; so that your speech made in 
daylight, and mine at night, on the 17th, at Spring- 
field, were both made in perfect independence of each 
other. The dates of making all these speeches will 
Siiow, I think, that in the matter of time for prepara- 
tion, the advantage has been all on your side ; and that 
none of the external circumstances has stood to my 
advantage. 

I agree to an arrangement for us to speak at the 
seven places you have named, and at jour own times, 
provided you name the times at once, so that I, as well 
as you, can have to myself the time not covered by the 
arrangement. As to the other details, I wish perfect 
reciprocity, and no more. I wish as much time as 
you, and that conclusions shall alternate. That is all. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

P. S. As matters now stand, I shall be at no more 
of your exclusive meetings ; and for about a week from 
to-day a letter from you will reach me at ST)ringfield. 

A. L. 



Mr. Douglas to Mr. Lincoln. 

Bement, Piatt Co., III., July 30, 1858. 

Bear Sir — Your letter, dated yesterday, accepting 
my proposition for a joint discussion at one prominent 
point in each Congressional District, as stated in my 
previous letter, was received this morning. 

The times and places designated are as follows : 

Ottawa, La Salle county August 21st, 1858. 

Freeport, Steplienson county " 27th, '' 

Jonesboro. Union connty . .". September 16th, " 

Charleston, Coles county '• 18th, " 

Galesburgh, Knox county October 7th, «* 

Quincy, Adanas county " 13th, " 

Alton, Madison county " 15th, " 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 79 

I agree to your suggestion that we shall alternately 
op(in and close the discussion. I will speak at Ottawa 
one hour, you can reply, occupying an hour and a half, 
and I will then follow for half an hour. At Freeport, 
you shall open the discussion and speak one hour, I 
will follow for an hour and a half, and you can then 
reply for half an hour. We will alternate in like man- 
ner at each successive place. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

S. A. DOU(;rLAS. 

Hon. A. Lincoln, Springfield^ 111. 



[Mr. Lincoln to 3Ir. Douglas.] 

Springfield, July 31, 1858. 
Hon. S. A. Douglas : Dear Sir — Yours of yester- 
day, naming places, times, and terms, for joint discus- 
sions between us, was received this morning. Although, 
by the terms, as you propose, you take four openings 
and closes, to my three, I accede, and thus close the 
arrangement. I direct this to you at Hillsboro, and 
shall try to have both your letter and this appear in 
the Journal and Begister of Monday morning. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

Of the joint debates which followed this correspond- 
ence the press of the entire country has spoken, and it 
is the highest praise of Mr. Lincoln to say, as the press 
everywhere said, that he held his ground in every en- 
counter with Mr. Douglas, as a debater and as an 
orator. He had truth on his side to be sure, which is 
always a great advantage, but neither in repartee nor in 
argument did Mr. Douglas for once confuse or confute 
his opponent. An Illinois correspondent of a Boston 
journal, said to be the President of an lUinois College, 



80 LIFF. AND SPEECHES OF 

wrote, after witnessing the joint debate at Galesburgli, 
as follows : 

" The men are entirely dissimilar. Mr. Douglas is a 
tliick-set, finely-built, courageous man, and has an air 
01 self-confidence that does not a little to inspire his 
supporters with hope. Mr. Lincoln is a tall, lank man, 
awkward, apparently ditfident, and when not speaking 
has neither firnmess in his countenance nor fire in his 

OTTO ^<^ ''^ '*' ''^ 

" Mr. Lincoln has a rich, silvery voice, enunciates 
with great distinctness, and has a fine command of 
language. He commenced by a review of the points 
Mr. Douglas had made. In this he showed great tact, 
and his retorts, though gentlemanly, w^ere sharp, and 
reached to the core the subject in dispute. While he 
gave but little time to the work of review, we did not 
feel that anything was omitted which deserved atten- 
tion. 

" He then proceeded to defend the Eepublican party. 
Here he charged Mr. Douglas with doing nothing for 
freedom ; with disregarding the rights and interests of 
the colored man ; and for about forty minutes he spoke 
with a power that we have seldom heard equalled. 
There was a grandeur in his thoughts, a comjorehen- 
siveness in his arguments, and a binding force in his 
conclusions, which v/ere perfectly irresistible. The 
vast throng were silent as death ; every eye was fixed 
upon the speaker, and all gave him serious attention. 
He was the tall man eloquent ; his countenance glowed 
with animation, and his eye glistened with an intelli- 
gence that made it lustrous. He was no longer 
awkward and ungainly ; but graceful, bold, command- 
ing. 

^^ Mr. Douglas had been quietly smoking up to this 
time ; but here he forgot his cigar and listened with 
anxious attention. When he rose to reply he appeared 
excited, disturbed, and his second effort seemed to us 
vastly inferior to his first. Mr. Lincoln had given him 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 81 

a great task, and Mr. Douglas had not time to answer 
him, even if he had the ability." 

THE DEBATES. 

Mr. Lincoln, on the evening before the Freeport 
debate, upon informing a few of his friends of the 
q[ueries he was going to put to Mr. Douglas (including 
that, in reference to the power of the territorial legisla- 
ture, notwithstanding the Dred Scott decision, to ex- 
clude slavery), was told by his friends that if he cornered 
Douglas on that question, the latter would surely 
" take the bull by the horns," and, making a virtue of 
necessity, assert his Squatter Sovereignty in defiance 
of the Dred Scott decision ; " and that," remarked Mr. 
L/s friends, "will make him Senator." "That may 
be," said Lincoln, and his large gray eye twinkled ; 
" but if he takes that shoot, he never can he President." 
All that has transpired since has but justified Mr. L.'s 
prediction. The Kepublicaus, after the Supreme Court 
had made their decision, and Douglas had unreservedly 
endorsed it, saw the advantage they had over the 
Democrats in the canvass, for they could quote Dred 
Scott as a knock-down argument against Popular 
Sovereignty. Mr. Douglas, too, saw this, and said 
very little in his first speeches about popular sover- 
eignty, but assumed the offensive, and attacked the 
Eepublican party, charging it with negro equality, &c. 
If he could have got through with that canvass with- 
out expressing his opinion as to the power of a territo- 
rial legislature over the subject of slavery — which 
opinion he had sedulously avoided expressing during 
all the Lecompton controversy in the Senate — ^he un- 

4* 



82 LIIE AND SPEECHES OF 

doubtecUy could now liave been able to reconcile aU 
other differences of opinion between himself and tlie 
Southern Democracy. But Mr. Lincoln's logical mind 
was more eager to probe this gigantic sophistry, with 
which the American public were being cheated, than to 
be Senator. So, while Douglas was making ad cajptan- 
dum appeals to the prejudices of the people, Lincoln 
was weaving around him, slowly but surely, the web in 
which, at Freeport, he became entangled, and from 
which he has ever since been vainly endeavoring to ex- 
tricate himself. 

Of this great contest the Philadelphia North Amer- 
ican, always conservative and cautious, remarks : 

" Stephen A. Douglas had ten times his education. 
Mr. Lincoln was mostly engaged in his profession, mas- 
tered amidst great discouragements, but practised with 
ominent success. He had some experience, however, 
as a general politician, besides serving for a while in 
the Illinois Legislature, and for two years in Congress. 
Mr. Douglas, on the other hand, a man of great native 
force, and possessing ten times the scholastic training 
of his rival, had been for full fifteen years in the very 
heart of national politics. Indeed, he is the strongest 
among the representatives of democracy under its 
northern phase, and we doubt if Toombs, Stephens, 
Benjamin, or Davis, bright luminaries of its southern 
hemisphere, can rank at aU before him. 

" With all these differences in political and other 
education, in a State that has been democratic ever 
since its admission into the ^ happy family,' and in op- 
position to a popular dogma, Lincoln stumped Illinois 
against Douglas, and carried it. The speeches on both 
sides were many and able. 

" Lincoln was, on several occasions, partly foiled or, 
at least, badly bothered. In most cases it seemed to 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 83 

be, so far as regarded strength and skill, a drawn bat- 
tle. In more than one instance he floored the ^ little 
giant ' flatly and fairly. We consider it, on the whole, 
an equal fight. Lincoln showed as much knowledge, 
and as much logic, with more wit, good humor, and 
courtesy. Douglas, while more rough and overbearing, 
was also much superior in a certain force, directness 
and determination. But it was about an equal match 
in ability. As for the result, Douglas carried the legis- 
lature, and Lincoln took the popular vote, as he can 
do again. Such is the man whom democracy will now 
endeavor to decry — the man who matched, and fully 
matched, their foremost champion. Both of them are 
self-made men ; both of them are very able ; loth 
sprang from obscurity to distinction ; both belong to 
the common people ; and both will be found to be 
strong with the masses. We would advise democracy, 
not for its own sake, but for ours, to go on ridiculing 
Abraham Lincoln for having once mauled logs, and de- 
scribing him as a third-rate man. These little pop- 
guns will soon be silenced by the roar of the popular 
Paixhans.'' 

Mr. Greeley says : 

'^ I tell you, the man who stumps a State with Ste- 
phen A. Douglas, and meets him, day after day, before 
the people, has got to be no fool. Many a man will 
make a better first speech than Douglas, but, giving 
and taking, back and forward, he is very sharp. Now, 
the man who went through the State, speaking against 
Stephen A. Douglas, and was not beaten, as no man 
says he was, is not a common man ; for no common 
man will answer for that work ; and at the end of that 
cumpaign Mr. Lincoln came out with 4,000 majority 
on the popular vote, although Mr. Buchanan had beaten 
Fremont 9,000, and the general feeling outside of the 
State was that Douglas had better be elected. Mr. 
Crittenden wrote a letter which elected Douglas ; he 



84 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

said that it was better that Douglas should be elected, 
and there were 30,000 Americans there ; I don't be- 
lieve we have got another man living who would have 
fc^ught through that camijaign so efiectively and at the 
same time so good-naturedly as he did. Mr. Trumbull 
would have begun a little ranker, but one or the other 
would soon have been knocked off the platform. Mr. 
Lincoln went through with perfect good nature and en- 
tire suavity, and beat Stephen A. Douglas, it being 
the first time any man on our side ever carried that 
State.'' 

In a recent debate in the Senate of the United 
States, Senator Benjamin, one of the ablest men in the 
S 3nate and the finest orator, took up the debates be- 
tween Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln for examination, 
and though the vehement enemy of Kepubhcans and 
Eepublicanism, he complimented Mr. Lincoln very 
highly. Said Mr. Benjamin : 

" Here, Mr. President, let m^e come back to an ex- 
planation of that fact which I pr-, ke of bofcre, and to 
•^ iiicli I asked the atte^ l-on of the Senate and the 
country. There stands the explanation of the sudden 
change that has been wrought in the relations of the 
Senator from Illinois with the rest of the Democratic 
party. It was when, in the year 1858, the year follow- 
ing this decision, pressed by a canvass at home, eager 
to return to the Senate, he joined in canvassing the 
State of Illinois with the gentleman who is now the 
candidate of the Black Kcpublican party for the Pres- 
idency. Pressed in different portions of the State 
with this very argument, that he had agreed to leave 
the (Question to the court, that the court had decided it 
in favor of the South, and that, therefore, unci or the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, slavery was fixed in all the ter- 
ritories of the United States — finding himself going 
down in Illinois, in that canvass, he backed out fiom 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 85 

his promise, and directly told the people of his State 
that, whether it had been decided or not, and no mat- 
ter what the court might decide, the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill had fixed the power in the peoj)le of the North to 
make every territory in the Union free. 

^' In that contest the two candidates for the Senate 
of the United States, in the State of Illinois, went be- 
fore their people. They agreed to discuss the issues ; 
they put questions to each other for answer ; and I must 
say here, for I must be just to all, that I have been sur- 
prised in the e?:aniination that I made again within the 
last few days of this discussion between Mr. Lincoln and 
Mr. Douglas, to find that Mr. Lincoln is a far more con- 
servative man, unless he has since changed his opinions, 
than I had supposed him to be. There was no dodging 
on his part. Mr. Douglas started with his questions. 
Here they are, with Mr. Lincoln's answers : 

" Question 1. 'I desire to know whether Lincoln to- 
day stands, as he did in 1854, in favor of the uncondi- 
tional repeal of the fugitive slave law ?' 

'^Answer. ^I do not now, nor ever did, stand in 
favor of the unconditional repeal of the fugitive slave 
law.' 

'^Question 2. 'I desire him to answer whether he 
stands pledged to-day, as he did in 1854, against the 
admission of any more slave States into the Union, 
even if the people want them ?' 

^^ Answer. ' 1 do not now, nor ever did, stand pledg- 
ed against the admission of any more slave States into 
the Union/ 

" Question 3. ' I want to know whether he stands 
pledged against the admission of a new State into the 
Union with such a constitution as the people of that 
State may see fit to make ?' 

" Answer. ^ I do not stand pledged against the 
admission of a new State into the Union with such a 
constitution as the people of that State may see fit to 
make ?' 



86* LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

" Question 4. ^ I want to know whether he stands 
to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia ?' 

^'' Answer. '- 1 do not stand to-day pledged to the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia/ 

" Question 5. ^ I desire him to answer whether he 
stands pledged to the prohibition of the slave trade be- 
tween the different States ?' 

" Answer. ' I do not stand pledged to the prohibition 
of the slave trade between the different States/ 

'^Questions. 'I desire to know whether he stands 
pledged to prohibit slavery in all the territories of the 
United States, north as well as south of the Missouri 
Compromise hne ?' 

'^ Answer. ' I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged 
to a belief in the right and duty of Congress to prohibit 
slavery in all the United States territories/ 

"" Question 7. 'I desire him to answer whether he is 
opposed to the acquisition of any new territory unless 
slavery is first prohibited therein ?' 

" Answer. ' I am not generally opposed to honest 
acquisition of territory ; and, in any given case, I 
would or would not oppose such acquisition, accordingly 
as I might think such acquisition would or would not 
aggravate the slavery question among ourselves/ 

" It is impossible, Mr. President, however we may 
differ in opinion with the man, not to admire the per- 
fect candor and frankness with which these answers 
were given ; no equivocation — no evasion. The Sena- 
tor from Illinois had his questions put to him in his 
turn. All I propose to do now is to read his answer to 
the second question : 

'^ ' The next question propounded to me by Mr. Lin- 
coln is, ^ Can the people of a territory, in any lawful way, 
against the wishes of any citizen of the United States, 
exclude slavery from their limits prior to the formation 
of a State constitution ?' I answer emphatically, as 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 87 

Mr. Lincoln has heard me answer a hundred times 
from every stump in Illinois, that, in my opinion, the 
people of a territory can, by lawful means, exclude 
slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a 
State constitution. Mr. Lincoln knew that I had an- 
swered that question over and over again. He heard 
me argue the Nebraska bill on that principle all over 
the State in 1854, in 1855, and in 1856, and he has no 
excuse for pretending to be in doubt as to my position 
on that question." 

'^ All that was true ; but see the art ; the decision 
had not come yet ; now the decision has come ; now 
what ? 

" ' It matters not what way the Supreme Court may 
hereafter decide as to the abstract question, whether 
slavery may or may not go into a territory under the 
Constitution, the people have the lawful means to 
introduce or exclude it as they please, for the reason 
that slavery cannot exist a day or an hour anywhere 
unless it is supported by local police regulations. 
Those police regulations can only be established by 
the local legislature ; and if the people are opposed to 
slavery, they will elect representatives to that body 
who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually prevent 
the introduction of it into their midst. If, on the con- 
trary, they are for it, their legislation will favor its 
extension. Hence, no matter what the decision of the 
Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still 
the right of the people to make a slave territory or a 
free territory is perfect and complete under the Nebras- 
ka bill. I hope Mr. Lincoln deems my answer satis- 
factory on that point.' * * * * * 

^' Well, sir, what occurred further in that contro- 
versy.^ His competitor was shocked at the profli- 
gacy of the Senator. His competitor said to him — 
and here is the argument-r-* Everybody knows that the 
Dred Scott decision has determined the principle that 
a citizen of the South has a right to go into the terri- 



< LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

tory, and there, under tlie Constitution, liis property- 
is protected, and yet you are telling the people here 
that their legislators, when they swear to support the 
Constitution, can violate that constitutional provision/ 
Mr. Lincoln held up his hands in horror at the propo- 
sition. He was bold in the assertion of his own prin- 
ciples ; but he told the Senator from Illinois in that 
discussion, that what he was saying was a gross out- 
rage on propiiety, and was breaking the bargain he 
had made. But again, su', he told the Senator from 
Illinois that he did not believe in the Dred Scott de- 
cision, because, said he, if the Dred Scott decision be 
true, and slavery exists in the territories under the 
Constitution of the United States, then it also exists 
in the States — it exists in Pennsylvania as weU as in 
Kansas. 

" The contest ended. On the popular vote, the 
Senator from Illinois was beaten ; but according to 
the division of the representative and senatorial dis- 
tricts of the State, he was re-elected The popular 
vote upon the election of members of the Senate and 
Legislature was one hundred and twenty-one thousand 
in his favor, one hundred and twenty-five thousand ia 
favor of the Republican candidate, tind five thousand 
votes in favor of what he called the Danites. All the 
State Republican officers were elected ; but there was 
a majority of the Legislature of Illinois elected in favor 
the Senator from Illinois, and he came back here in 
triumph. 

'■' Last spring I was forced to leave my country from 
an attack of a disease in the eyes, which required at- 
tention abroad I went to get the attention of emi- 
nent oculists fvbroad. For six or eight months I wa,s 
d-zbarred froiri reading or writing. I came back just 
before the opening of this Congress ; and I found that 
during my absence the honorable Senator from Illinois 
had been engaged in a controversy in the public jour- 
nab and magazines of the country in relation to the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 89 

principles that governed the territories of tlie United 
Spates, and that he had copied into those articles the 
veiy arguments that his Eepublican opponent in Illi- 
nois had used against him, and was then using against 
the Democratic party. [Laughter.] I have got them 
here. First, that it may not he said that I originated 
this charge, after these magazine articles were printed, 
and after the Senator's opponent, Mr. Lincoln, had 
taxed him with want of good faith under the Constitu- 
tion for alleging the power of the local legislature to 
go through with this unfriendly legislation, in a subse- 
quent speech, delivered at Columbus, Ohio, in Septem- 
ber, 1859, Mr. Lincoln said to the people : 

^^ Judge Douglas says, if the Constitution carries 
slavery into the territories, beyond the power of the 
people of the territories to control it as other property, 
then it follows logically that every one who swears to 
support the Constitution of the United States must 
give that support to that property which it needs. And 
if the Constitution carries slavery into the territories, 
beyond the power of the people to control it as other 
property, then it also carries it into the States, because 
the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Now, 
gentlemen, if it were not for my excessive modesty, I 
would say that I told that very thing to Judge Doug- 
las quite a year ago. This argument is here in print, 
and if it were not for my modesty, as I said, I might 
call your attention to it. If you read it, you will find 
that I not only made that argument, but made it better 
than he has made it since." (Laughter.) 

The first debate took place at Ottawa, and Mr. 
Douglas made the opening speech, in the course of 
which he made a singular charge against Mr. Lincoln, 
which was as follows : 

" In 1854, Mr. Abraham Lincoln and Mr. Trumbull 
entered into an arrangement, one with the other, and 



90 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

each with his respective friends, to dissolve the old 
Whig party on the one hand, and to dissolve the old 
Democratic party on the other, and to connect the mem- 
bers of both into an Abolition party, under the name 
and disguise of a Kepublican party. The terms of 
that arrangement between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Trum- 
bull have been published to the world by Mr. Lincoln's 
special friend, James H. Matheny, Esq., and they 
were, that Lincoln should have Shields' place in the U. S. 
Senate, which was then about to become vacant, and 
that Trumbull should have my seat when my term ex- 
pired. Lincoln went to work to abolitionize the old 
Whig party all over the State, pretending that he was 
then as good a Whig as ever ; and Trumbull went to 
work in his part of the State preaching abolitionism 
in its milder and lighter form, and trying to abolition- 
ize the Democra,tic party, and bring old Democrats, 
handcuffed and bound hand and foot, into the Abolition 
camp. In pursuance of the arrangement, the parties 
met in Springfield in October, 1854, and proclaimed 
their new platform. Lincoln was to bring into the 
Abolition camp the old line Whigs, and transfer them 
over to Giddings, Chase, Fred. Douglas, and Parson 
Lovejoy, who were ready to receive them, and christen 
them in their new faith. They laid down, on that oc- 
casion, a platform for their" new Kepublican party, 
which was to be thus constructed." 

To this charge, Mr. Lincoln replied : 

" When a man hears himself somewhat misrepre- 
sented, it provokes him — at least, I find it so with 
myself ; but when misrepresentation becomes very gross 
and palpable, it is more apt to amuse him. The first 
thing I see fit to notice, is the fact that Judge Doug- 
las alleges, after running through the history of the 
old Democratic and the old Whig parties, that Judge 
Trumbull and myself made an arrangement in 1854, 
by which I was to have the place of G-eneral Shields 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 91 

in the. United States Senate, and Judge Trumbull was 
to have the place of Judge Douglas. Now, all I have 
to say upon that subject is, that I think no man — not 
even Judge Douglas — can prove it, because it is not 
true. I have no doubt he is ^ conscientious ' in saying 
it. As to those resolutions that he took such a length 
of time to read, as being the platform of the Republi- 
can party in 1854, I say that I never had anything to 
do with them, and I think Trumbull never had. Judge 
Douglas cannot show that either of us ever did have 
anything to do with them, I believe this is true about 
those resolutions : There was a call for a convention 
to form a Eepublican party at Springfield, and I think 
that my friend, Mr. Lovejoy, who is here upon this 
stand, had a hand in it. I think this is true, and I 
think if he will remember accurately, he will be able 
to recollect that he tried to get me into it, and I would 
not go in, I believe it is also true that I went away 
from Springfield when the convention was in session, 
to attend court in Tazewell county. It is true they 
did place my name, though without authority, upon 
the committee, and afterward wrote me to attend the 
meeting of the committee, but I refused to do so, and 
I never had anything to do with that organization. 
This is the plain truth about all that matter of the 
resolutions." 

In the reply, Mr. Lincoln uttered the subjoined 
forcible smd eloquent paragraph, upon negro equality : 

^^ Now, gentlemen, I don't want to read at any 
greater length, but this is the true complexion of all 
I have ever said in regard to the institution of slavery 
and the black race. This is the whole of it, and any- 
thing that argues me into his idea of perfect social and 
political equality with the negro, is but a specious and 
fantastic arrangement of words, by which a man can 
prove a horse-chestnut to be a chestnut-horse. I will 
say here, while upon this subject, that I have no pur- 



92 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

pose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the insti- 
tution of slavery in the States where it noAv exists. I 
believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no 
inclination to do so. I have no purpose to introduce 
political and social equality between the white and the 
black races. There is a physical difference between the 
two, which, in my judgment, will probably forever 
forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect 
equality, and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that 
there must be a difference, I, as well as Judge Doug- 
las, am in favor of the race to which I belong having 
the superior position. I have never said anything to 
the contrary, but I hold that, notwithstanding all this, 
there is no reason in the world why the negro is not 
entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the 
Declaration of Independence — the right to life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as 
much entitled to these as the white man. I agree with 
Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many respects — 
certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral or intellec- 
tual endowment. But in the right to eat the bread, 
without the leave of any one else, which his own hand 
earns, he is my equal ^ and the equal of Judge Doug- 
las, and the equal of every living man." 

Mr. Douglas also undertook to give a little sketch of 
his opponent's perst3nal history in his speech, and after 
the following fashion : 

" In the remarks I have made on this platform, and 
the position of Mr. Lincoln upon it, I mean nothing 
personally disrespectful or unkind to that gentleman. 
I have known him for nearly twenty-five years. There 
were many points of sympathy between us when we 
first got acquainted. We were both comparatively 
boys, and both struggling with poverty in a strange 
land. I was a school-teacher in the town of Winches- 
ter, and he a flourishing grocery-keeper in the town of 
Salem. He was more successful in his occupation than 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. VS 

I was in mine, and hence more fortnnatein this world's 
goods. Lincoln is one of those peculiar men who per- 
form with admirable skill everything which they under- 
take. I made as good a school-teacher as I could, and 
when a cabinet-maker I made a good bedstead and ta- 
bles, although my old boss said I succeeded better with 
bureaus and secretaries than with anything else ; but I 
believe that Lincoln was always more successful in bus- 
iness than Ij for his business enabled him to get into 
the Legislature. I met him there, however, and had a 
sympathy with him, because of the up-hill struggle we 
both had in life. He was then just as good at telling 
an anecdote as now. He could beat any of the boys 
wrestling, or running a foot-race, in pitching quoits or 
tossing a copper ; could ruin more liquor than all the 
boys of the town together, and the dignity and impar- 
tiality with which he presided at a horse-race or fist- 
iight, excited the admiration and won the praise of ev- 
erybody that was present and participattd. I sympa- 
thized with him, because he was struggling with diffi- 
culties, and so was I. Mr. Lincoln served with me in 
the Legislature in 1836, Avhen we both retired, and he 
subsided, or became submerged, and he Avas lost sight 
of as a public man for some years. In 1846, when 
Wilmot introduced the celebrated proviso, and the Ab- 
olition tornado swept over the country, Lincoln again 
turned up as a member of Congress from the Sanga- 
mon district. I was then in the Senate of the United 
States, and was glad to welcome my old friend and 
companion. While in Congress, he distinguished him- 
self by his opposition to the Mexican war, taking the 
side of the common enemy against his own country ; 
and when he returned home he found that the indigna- 
tion of the people followed him everywhere, and. he 
was again submerged or obliged to retire into private 
life, forgotten by his former friends.'' 

To which Mr. Lincoln replied : 



94 LIFE AND SPEECHESOF 

" The Judge is wofuUy at fault about his early friend 
Lincoln being a ' grocery-keeper/ I don't know as it 
would be a great sin if I had been ; but he is mista- 
ken. Lincoln never kept a grocery anywhere in the 
world. It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part 
of one winter in a little still-house up at the head of a 
hollow. And so I think my friend, the Judge, is 
equally at fault when he charges me at the time when 
I was in Congress of having opposed our soldiers who 
were fighting in the Mexican war. The Judge did not 
make his charge very distinctly, but I can tell you 
what he can prove by referring to the record. You re- 
member I was an old Whig, and whenever the Demo- 
cratic party tried to get me to vote that the war had 
been righteously begun by the President, I would not 
do it. But whenever they asked for any money, or 
land-warrants, or anything to pay the soldiers there, 
during all that time, I gave the same vote that Judge 
Douglas did. You can think as you please as to whether 
that was consistent. Such is the truth ; and the Judge 
has a right to make all he can out of it. But when he, 
by a general- charge, conveys the idea that I withheld 
supplies from the soldiers who were fighting in the 
Mexican war, or did anything else to hinder the sol- 
diers, he is, to say the least, grossly and altogether mis- 
taken, as a consultation of the records will prove to 
him.'' 

Mr. Lincoln, before he was throu2:h, made the follow- 
JQg amusing point on Mr. Douglas, in rejoly to his con- 
tinual talk about the Supreme Court and reverence for 
its decisions : 

'' This man sticks to a decision which forbids the peo- 
ple of a territory from excluding slavery, and he does so 
not because he says it is right in itself — he dctes not give 
any opinion on that — ^but because it has been decided bp 
the court, and being decided by the court, he is, and 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 95 

you are Loimd to take it in your political action as 
laiu — not that he judges at all of its merits, but because 
a decision of the court is to him a " Thus saith the 
Lord." He places it on that ground alone, and you 
will bear in mind that, thus committing himself unre- 
servedly to this decision, commits him to the next one 
just as firmly as to this. He did not commit himself 
on account of the merit or demerit of the decision, but 
it is a Thus saith the Lord. The next decision, as 
much as this, will be a Thus saith the Lord. There is 
nothing that can divert or turn him away from this de- 
cision. It is nothing that I point out to him that his 
great prototype, Gren. Jackson, did not believe in the 
binding force of drcisions. It is nothing to him that 
Jefferson did not so believe. I have said that I have 
often heard him approve of Jackson's course in disre- 
garding the decision of the Supreme Court pronouncing 
a National Bank constitutional. He says, I did not 
hear him say so. He denies the accuracy of my recol- 
lection. I say he ought to know better than I, but I 
will make no question about this thing, though it still 
seems to me that I heard him say it twenty times. I 
will tell him though, that he now claims to stand on 
the Cincinnati platform, which affirms that Congress 
cannot charter a National Bank, in the teeth of that 
old standing decision that Congress can charter a bank. 
And I remind him of another piece of history on the 
question of respect for judicial decisions, and it is a 
piece of Illinois history, belonging to a time when the 
large party to which Judge Douglas belonged, were dis- 
pleased with a decision of the Supreme Court of Illi- 
nois, because they had decided that a Governor could 
not remove a Secretary of State. You will find the 
whole story in Ford's History of Illinois, and I know 
that Judge Douglas will not deny that he was then in 
favor of overslaughing that decision by the mode of 
adding five new Judges, so as to vote down the four old 
ones. Not only so, but it ended in the Judge's sitting 



96 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

down on that very bench as one of the five new Judges 
to break doivn the four old ones. It was in this way 
precisely that he got his title of Judge. Now, when 
the Judge tells me that men appointed conditionally to 
sit as members of a court, will have to be catechised 
beforehand on some subject, I say, ^You know, Judge; 
you have tried it/' When he says a court of this kind 
will lose the confidence of all men, will be prostituted 
and disgraced by such a proceeding, I say, ' You know 
best. Judge ; you have been through the mill/' But 
I cannot shake Judge Douglas's teeth loose from the 
Dred Scott decision. Like some obstinate animal (I 
mean no disrespect), that will hang on when he has 
once got his teeth fixed ; you may cut off a leg, or you 
may tear av/ay an arm, still he will not relax his hold. 
And so I may point out to the Judge, and say that I e 
is bespattered all over, from the beginning of his polit- 
ical life to the present time, with attacks upon judicial 
decisions — I may cut off limb after limb of his public 
record, and strive to wrench him from a single dictum 
of the court — yet I cannot divert him from it. He 
hangs, to the last, to the Dred Scott decision. These 
things show there is a purpose strong as death and 
eternity for which he adheres to this decision, and for 
which he will adhere to all other decisions of the same 
court." 

We may safely challenge the annals of stump-speak- 
ing in the West or at the South for a more overwhelm- 
ing rejoinder than this. 

In the third debate, at Jonesboro, Mr. Lincoln said : 

^' I find a report of a speech made by Judge Doug- 
las at Joliet, since we last met at Freeport — ^published, 
I believe, in the Missouri Bepublican — on the 9th of 
this month, in which Judge Douglas says : 

" ' You know at Ottawa, I read this platform, and 
asked him if he concurred in each and aU of the prin- 
ciples set forth in it. He would not answer these ques- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 97 

tions. At last I said frankly, " I wish you to answer 
them, because when I get them up here where the color 
of your principles are a little darker than in Egypt, I 
intend to trot you down to Jonesboro/' The very no- 
tice that I was going to take him down to Egypt made 
him tremble in the knees so that he had to be carried 
from the platform. He laid up seven days, and in the 
meantime held a consultation with his political physi- 
cians ; they had Lovejoy and Earns worth and all the 
leaders of the Abolition party, they consulted it all 
over, and at last Lincoln came to the conclusion that he 
would answer, so he came up to Freeport last Friday/ 
" Now that statement altogether furnishes a subject 
for philosophical contemplation. I have been treating 
it in that way, and I have really come to the conclu- 
sion that I can explain it in no other way than by be- 
lieving the Judge is crazy. If he was in his right 
mind, I cannot conceive how he would have risked dis- 
gusting the four or fi /e thousand of his own friends 
who stood there, and knew, as to my having been 
carried from the platform, that there was not a word of 
truth in it.'^ 

Judge Douglas — "Didn't they carry you off.^" 
Mr. Lincoln — " There ; that question illustrates 
the character of this man Douglas, exactly. He smiles 
now and say's, ' Didn't they carry you off ?' But he 
said then, ' lie had to he carried off;' and he said it to 
convince the country that he had so completely broken 
me down by his speech that I had to be carried away. 
Now he seeks to dodge it, and asks, ' Didn't they carry 
you off ?' Yes, they did. But, Judge Douglas, why 
didn't you tell the truth '^ I would like to know why you 
didn't tell the truth about it. And then again, ' He 
laid up seven days.' He puts this in print for the peo- 
ple of the country to read as a serious document. I 
think if he had been in his sober senses he would not 
have risked that barefacedness in the presence of thou- 
sands of his own friends, who knew that I made 



98 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

speeches witlim six of the seven days at Henry, Mar- 
shall county, Augusta, Hancock county, and Macomb, 
McDonough county, including all the necessary travel 
to meet him again at Freeport at the end of the six 
days. Now, I say, there is no charitable way to look 
at that statement, except to conclude that he is ac- 
tually crazy. There is another thing in that state- 
ment that alarmed me very greatly as he states 
it, that he was going to ^ trot me down to Egypt.' 
Thereby he would have you to infer that I would not 
come to Egypt unless he forced me — that I could not 
be got here, unless he, giantlike, had hauled me down 
here. That statement he makes, too, in the teeth of 
the knowledge that I had made the stipulation to come 
down here, and that Tie himself had been very reluc- 
tant to enter into the stipulation. More than all this. 
Judge Douglas, when he made that statement, must 
have been crazy, and wholly out of his sober senses, 
or else he would have known that when he got me 
down here — that promise — that windy promise — of his 
powers to annihilate me, wouldn't amount to anything. 
Now, how little do I look hke being carried away 
trembling ? Let the Judge go on, and after he is done 
with his half hour, I want you all, if I can't go home 
myself, to let me stay and rot here ; and if anything 
happens to the Judge, if I cannot carry him to the 
hotel and put him to bed, let me stay here and rot. I 
say, then, there is something extraordinary in this 
statement. I ask you if you know any other living 
man who would make such a statement ? I will ask 
my friend Casey, over there, if he would do such a 
thing ? Would he send that out and have his men 
take it as the truth ? Did the Judge talk of trotting 
me down to Egypt to scare me to death ? Why, I 
know this people better than he does. I was raised 
just a little east of here. I am a part of this peojole. 
But the Judge was raised further north, and, perhaps, 
he has some horrid idea of what this people might be 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. S9 

induced to do. But ^ really I liave talked about this 
matter perhaps longer than I ought, for it is no great 
thing, and yet the smallest are often the most difficult 
things to deal with. The Judge has set about seriously 
trying to make the impression that when we meet at 
different places I am literally in his clutches — that I 
am a poor, helpless, decrepit mouse, and that I can do 
nothing at all. This is one of the ways he has taken 
to create that impression. I don't know any other way 
to meet it, except this. I don't wan't to quarrel with 
him — to call him a liar — but when I come square up 
to him I don't know what else to call him, if I must 
tell the truth out. I want to be at peace, and reserve 
all my fighting powers for necessary occasions. My 
time, now, is very nearly out, and I give up the trifle 
that is left to the Judge, to let him set my knees trem- 
bling again, if he can." 

Mr. Greeley, in the Tribune, speaks of this great 
Senatorial contest, and its result, as follows : 

" In 1858, the Eepublican State Convention unani- 
mously designated him as their representative man to 
stump the State against Stephen A. Douglas. They 
knew that the struggle would be a desperate one — that 
they must put their very best foot foremost. If they 
had had a champion whom they supposed abler and 
worthier than Mr. Lincoln, they would have chosen 
that champion for this arduous service. They had 
nearly all heard Lincoln and their other speakers, 
and ought to have known by this time who was their 
best man ; yet they choose Abraham Lincoln. If they 
don't know who is their best man, should not mission- 
aries be sent out to teach them ? 

"Mr. Lincoln went into this canvass under most dis- 
couraging auspices. Many leading Eepublicans out of 
the State thought the opposition to Mr. Douglas im- 
politic and mistaken. We certainly thought so ; and, 
though we said little on the point, our very siknce was 



n 00 LIFE ANDSPEECHBS OF 

damaging in a State where more people read this paper 
than any other. It has been a hundred times asserted 
that The Tribune ^ defeated Lincoln/ But there were 
other outside influences, as adverse and at least equally 
potent. In 1856, the State polled 37,444 American or 
whig votes for Fillmore. Many of these were cast by 
natives of Kentucky ; all by men who love and con- 
fide in John J. Crittenden. In the thickest of the fray, 
a letter from Mr. Crittenden was published, advising 
them to favor Mr. Douglas's reelection. Undoubtedly, 
this had an overrulino; influence with thousands. Yet, 
after Messrs. Lincoln and Douglas had thoroughly can- 
vassed the State, the people voted with the following 
result : 

Fremont. Fillmore. Buchanan. 
Total Tote in 1856 96,189 .. 37,444 .. 105,348 

Lincoln. Lecompton. Douglas. 
Total vote in 1858 125,275 .. 5,071 .. 121,190 

Lineo n s gain on 1856 29,086 

Douglas' " 15,743 

Lincoln's net gain 14,345 

Or, give Douglas the entire Lecompton vote in addition 
to his own, and Lincoln still gains on him 9,273. 

" Bear in mind that this was a contest in which the 
sympathies of men indiflerent to party were almost 
wholly with Douglas, wherein many Kepublicans sup- 
ported him throughout, wherein Crittenden summoned 
the Americans to his aid, and wherein he stood boldly 
on the ground of Popular Sovereignty, with the pres- 
tige of having just before defeated the infamous Le- 
compton bill. All things considered, we recall nothing 
in the history of political campaigning more creditable 
to a canvasser than this vote is to Lincoln, i^ 

" We have thus dwelt throughout on facts of public 
record or of universal notoriety. The speeches made 
to the same audienoes in that canvass, by Messrs. Lin- 
coln and Douglas, were collected and printed by the 
Kepublicans of Ohio, for cheap and general dissemina- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 101 

tion, long before they dreamed that Mr. Lincoln would 
be the Republican candidate for President. We had 
sold hundreds of them at our counte^^ as we had thou- 
sands of Mr. Lincoln's speech in this city, before the 
meeting of the Chicago Convention ; we expect to sell 
thousands of the former and tens of thousands of the 
latter forthwith. Every reader can herein see just what 
manner of man Mr. Lincoln is, and how he bears him- 
self when confronted with one of the very best and most 
effective popular canvassers in the democratic ranks. 
If Mr. Lincoln is weak, or ill-informed, or anywise de- 
ficient, this protracted discussion with Douglas must 
show it." 

The Chicago Tribune, shortly after the election took 
place, made the subjoined statement : 

" The majorities for members of Congress are as fol- 
lows : 

First district, E. B. Wasliburne, Eep 9,414 

Second district, J F. Farns worth, Rep 8,G39 

Third disti'ict, Owen Lovejoy, Rep 7.443 

Fourth district, William Kellogg, Rep 2,711 

Fifth district, Isaac N. Morris, Dem 1,961 

Sixth district, Thomas L. Harris, Dem 4,447 

Seventh district, J. C. Robinson, Dem 1,759 

Eighth district, Philip B. Foulke, Dem 2,939 

Ninth district, John A. Logan. Dem 12,847 

" The aggregate votes on the Congressional tickets 
were : Kepublican, 126,084 ; Douglas Democratic, 
121,940 ; Buchanan Democratic, 5,091. 

" The vote on State Treasurer stands : James Miller, 
Eepublican, 125,828 ; W. B. Fondey, Douglas Demo- 
crat, 121,803 ; John Dougherty, Buchanan Democrat, 
5,091. 

" These returns show, that taking the vote on Con- 
gressmen as the test, the Republicanmajority over both 
the Buchanan and Douglas parties is 97. The entire 
Buchanan vote is 5,091. The Republicans retained 
every county that went for Fremont ar Bissell in 1856, 



102 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

They lost not one whidi they carried at the Presiden- 
tial election^ and they have redeemed from the Demo- 
crats seven counties which went for Buchanan two 
years ago, viz. : De Witt, Logan, Coles, Edgar, Piatt, 
Edwards, and Bond, all of which went against Gover- 
nor Bissell, except Edwards. Peoria can almost bo 
added to the column of the redeemed counties. 

" Despite the unfair apportionment, by which Mr. 
Douglas has secured both branches of the Legislature, 
the Eepublicans of Illinois have abundant reason to be 
satisfied with the result of the contest through which 
they have just passed. Taking Fremont's vote as a 
standard of comparison, they have gained nearly 30,000 
since 1856. The entire vote of the State is 252,722, 
against 238,981 two years ago — a difference of 13,741.'' 

Mr. Lincoln and his fellow Eepublicans of Illinois, 
far from being discouraged by the result of the cam- 
paign, were greatly encouraged, well knowing that 
with such gains, such a steady increase, by the Kepub- 
lican party in Illinois, its day of complete triumph 
could not be far off. 

During the past autumn and winter Mr. Lincoln 
visited various parts of the country, delivering lectures 
upon the political condition of the country, and creat- 
ing unbounded enthusiaism wherever he went. The 
Leavenworth Register speaks as follows of his visit to 
Kansas : 

" Hon. Abraham Lincoln arrived this afternoon, 
about two o'clock. ITotwithstanding the inclemency of 
the weather, he was met on Sixth street by a large con- 
course of our people, which augmented as it neared 
Turner's Hall, and when it reached Delaware street it 
contained seven or eight hundred persons. The jDroces- 
sion moved down Delaware street and turned up Maine 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 103 

to Shawnee, and up Sliawnee to the Mansion House. 
Along the sidewalks a dense crowd moved with the 
procession. All the doors, windows, balconies, and 
porticoes, were filled with men and women, all anxious 
to get a sight of ' Honest Old Abe." On arriving 
at the Mansion House the concourse halted, and three 
long and loud cheers were given for Lincoln. 

"The crowd by this time had swelled to an immense 
audience, filled with admiration for the man of the 
people and the veteran warrior of freedom. The mar- 
shals of the day, Capt. Dickison and Capt. Hays of the 
Turner Association, assisted by Mr. Ketner and others, 
deserve credit for the manner in which the reception 
was conducted. 

" Never did man receive such honors at the hands of 
our people, and never did our people pay honors to a 
better man, or one who has been a truer friend to 
Kansas. The name of ^ Abe Lincoln' is a household 
word in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Let it be so in 
Kansas, for we owe much to him for his early efforts in 
behalf of freedom in Kansas.'' 

The subjoined paragraph is from his speech at Leav- 
enworth, and is upon the subject of the dissolution of the 
Union. Said he : 

" But you. Democrats, are for the Union ; and you 
greatly fear the success of the Eepublicans would de- 
stroy the Union. Why .^ Do the Republicans declare 
against the Union ? Nothing like it. Your own 
statement of it is, that if the Black Republicans elect 
a President, you luonH stoMd it ! You will break up 
the Union. That will be your act, not ours. To jus- 
tify it, you must show that our policy gives you just 
cause for such desperate action. Can you do that ? 
When you attempt it, you will find that our policy is 
exactly the policy of the men who made the Union. 
Nothing more and nothing less. Do you really think 



104 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

you are justified to break the government rather than 
have it administered as it was by Washington, and 
other great and good men who made it, and first 
administered it ? If you do, you are very unreason- 
able, and more reasonable men cannot and will not 
submit to you. While you elect Presidents we submit, 
neither breaking nor attempting to break up the 
Union. If we shall constitutionally elect a President, 
it will be our duty to see that you also submit. Old 
John Brown has been executed for treason against a 
State. We cannot object, even though he agreed with 
us in thinking slavery wrong. That cannot excuse 
violence, bloodshed, and treason. It could avail him 
nothing that ho might think himself right. So, if 
constitutionally we elect a President, and, therefore, 
you undertake to destroy the Union, it will be our 
duty to deal with you as old John Brown has been 
dealt with. We shall try to do our duty. We hope 
and beli-< ve that in no section will a majority so act as 
to render* such extreme measures necessary/' 

Mr. I incoln is described by one who is familiar with 
his app^-arance and manners, as follows : 

" Mr. Lmcoln stands six feet and four inches high in 
his stockings. His frame is not muscular, but gaunt 
and wiry ; his arms are long, but not unreasonably so 
for a person of his height ; his lower limbs are not dis- 
proportioned to his body. In walking, his gait, though 
firm, is never brisk. He steps slowly and deliberately, 
almost always with his head inclined forward, and his 
hands clasped behind his back. In matters of dress 
he is by no means precise. Always clean, he is never 
fashionable ; he is careless, but not slovenly. In man- 
ner he is remarkably cordial, and, at the same time, 
simple. His politeness is always sincere, but never 
elaborate and oppressive. A v/arm shake of the hand, 
and a warmer smile of recognition, are his metJiods of 
greeting his friends. At rest, his features, though 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 105 

tHose of a man of mark, are not such, as belong to a 
handsome man ; but when his fine dark gray eyes are 
lighted up by any emotion, and his features begin their 
play, he would be chosen from among a crowd as one 
who had in him not only the kindly sentiments which 
women love, but the beavier metal of which full-grown 
men and Presidents are made. His hair is black, and 
though thin is wiry. His head sits well on his shoulders, 
but beyond that it defies description. It nearer resem- 
bles that of Clay than that of Webster ; but it is 
unlike either. It is very large, and, phrenologically, 
well proportioned, betokening power in all its develop- 
ments. A slightly Eoman nose, a wide-cut mouth, 
and a dark complexion, with the appearance of having 
been weather-beaten, complete the description. 

" In his personal habits, Mr. Lincoln is as simple as 
a child. He loves a good dinner, and eats with the ap- 
petite which goes with a great brain ; but his food is 
plain and nutritious. He never drinks intoxicating 
liquors of any sort, not even a glass of wine. He is 
not addicted to tobacco in any of its shapes. He never 
was accused of a licentious act in all his life. He 
never uses profane language. 

'•^ A friend says that once, when in a towering rage, 
in consequence of the efforts of certain parties to per- 
petrate a fraud on the State, he was heard to say : 
' They sha'n't do it, d — n 'em V but beyond an expres- 
sion of that kind, his bitterest feelings never carry him. 
He never gambles ; we doubt if he ever indulges in 
any games of chance. He is particularly cautious 
about incurring pecuniary obligations for any purpose 
whatever, and in debt, he is never content until the 
score is discharged. We presume he owes no man a 
dollar. He never speculates. The rage for the sudden 
acquisition of wealth never took hold of him. His 
gains from his profession have been moderate, but suffi- 
cient for his purposes. While others have dreamed of 
gold, he has been in pursuit of knowledge. In all his 



106 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

dealings he has the reputation of being generoas but 
exact, andj above all, religiously honest. He would be 
a bold man who would say that Abraham Lincoln ever 
wronged any one out of a cent, or ever spent a dollar 
that he had not honestly earned. His struggles in early 
life have made him careful of money ; but his gener- 
osity with his own is proverbial. He is a regular 
attendant upon religious worship, and though not a 
communicant, is a pew-holder and liberal supporter of 
the Presbyterian Church, in Springfield, to which Mrs. 
Lincoln belongs. He is a scrupulous teller of the 
truth — too exact in his notions to suit the atmosphere 
of Washington, as it now is. His enemies may say 
that he tells Black Eepublican lies ; but no man ever 
charged that, in a professional capacity, or as a citizen 
dealing with his neighbors, he would depart from the 
Scriptural command. At home, he lives like a gentle- 
man of modest means and simple tastes. A good-sized 
house of wood, simply but tastefully furnished, sur- 
rounded by trees and flowers, is his own, and there he 
lives, at peace with himself, the idol of his family, and 
for his honesty, ability, and patriotism, the admiration 
of his countrymen.'' 

Another person gives the subjoined sketch of him : 

"In personal appearance, Mr. Lincoln, or, as he is 
more familiarly termed among those who know him 
best, ' Old Uncle Abe,' is long, lean, and wiry. In 
motion he has a great deal of the elasticity and awk- 
wardness which indicate the rough training of his early 
life, and his conversation savors strongly of Western 
idioms and pronunciation. His height is six feet four 
inches. His complexion is about that of an octoroon ; 
his face, without being by any means beautiful, is ge- 
idal looking, and good humor seems to lurk in every 
coiner of its innumerable angles. He has dark hair 
tinged with gray, a good forehead, small eyes, a long 
penetrating nose^ with nostrils such as Napoleon al- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 107 

ways liked to find in liis best generals, because they 
indicated a long bead and clear thoughts ; and a 
mouth, which, aside from being of magniticent propor- 
tions, is probably the most expressive feature of his 
lace. 

" As a speaker he is ready, precise, and fluent. His 
manner before a popular assembly is as he pleases to 
make it, being either superlatively ludicrous, or very 
impressive. He employs but little gesticulation, but 
when he desires to make a point, produces a shrug of 
his shoulders, an elevation of his eyebrows, a depres- 
sion of his mouth, and a general malformation of coun- 
tenance so comically awkward that it never fails to 
' bring down the house.' His enunciation is slow and 
emphatic, and his voice, though sharp and powerful, 
at times has a frequent tendency to dwindle into a 
shrill and unpleasant sound ; but as before stated, the 
peculiar characteristic of his delivery is the remarkable 
mobility of his features, the frequent contortions of 
which excite a merriment his words could not pro- 
duce.^' 

A good story is told of Mr. Lincoln in connection 
v*dth the Harper's Ferry affair — and by the way it is 
but one of a thousand which might be told of him, for 
he is a rare story-teller — it is said that when he first 
heard of the Harper's Ferry invasion, he remarked, 
that it was " a shocking and lamentable occurrence ;" 
but foreseeing the capital which the democracy would 
make out of it, he added, " I do not think the democ- 
racy can cross the river of their difficnlties at Harper's 
Ferry." 

We subjoin another amusing one from a Chicago 
journal : 

" A* great deal of fun was had by the jokers in 
_^„.f^pringfieid, about an affair in which, long time ago, 



108 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

our good friend Linc-oliij the candidate for the Presi- 
dency, was engaged. A young lady of tliat city, now 
the wife of a distiDguished statesman, wrote a para- 
graj)h in a burlesque vein, for the Sangamon Journal^ 
in Avhich Gen. Shields was good humoredly ridicukd 
for his connection with some public measure. The 
General was greatly incensed, and demanded of the 
editor the name of the offending party. ' Old Sim' put 
him off with a request for twenty-four hours to con- 
sider the matter, and, shortly afterward meeting Lin- 
coln, told him his perplexity. ' Tell him I wrote it," 
said Lincoln ; and tell him he did. After a deal of 
diplomacy to get a retraction of the offensive j)arts of 
the paragraph in question. Shields sent a challenge, 
which Lincoln accepted, named broadswords as the 
weapons, and an unfrequented, well- wooded island in 
the Mississippi, just below Alton, as the place. ' Old 
Abe' was first on the ground, and when Shields arrived 
he found his antagonist, his sword in one hand and a 
hatchet in the other, with his coat off, clearing away 
the underbrush ! Before the preliminary arrange- 
ments were completed, John J. Hardin, who, somehow, 
had got wind of what was afloat, appeared on the 
scene, called them both d — d fools, and by his argu- 
ments, addressed to their common sense, and by his 
ridicule of the figure that they, two well-grown, beard- 
ed men, were making there, each with a frog-sticker in 
his hand, broke up the fight. We do not know how 
Gen. Shields feels, but we have heard of Lincoln's say- 
ing, that the acceptance of the challenge was the mean- 
est thing he ever did in his life. Hardin — than whom 
a braver man never stood — never came out of that ter- 
rible charge at Buena Vista, to which he led the Second 
Regiment of Illinois Yolunteers. If the events of his 
life passed in quick review before his mind, as he lay 
wounded and dying in that fatal ravine, we doubt not 
this act ®f his, by which he prevented two really brave 
men irom engaging in fatal strife, was not the least of 
the consolations of that bitter hour." 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



109 



" While tlie late Illinois State Kepiiblican Conven- 
tion was in session, the Hon. Abraham Lincoln stepjoed 
in to witness the proceedings. His appearance was 
greeted with the utmost enthusiasm. He had hardly 
taken his seat when Mr. Oglesby of Decatur announced 
to the delegates that an old Democrat of Macon coun- 
ty, who had grown gray in the service of that party 
desired to make a contribution to the Convention, and 
the offer being accepted, forthwith two old-time fence 
rails, decorated with flags and streamers, were borne 
through the crowd into the Convention, bearing the in- 
scription : 



ABEAHAM LINCOLN, 

The Rail Candidate 
FOR PRESIDENT IN 1860. 

Two. rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830, 
by Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln — whose 
father was the first pioneer of Macon County. 



"The effect was electrical. One spontaneous burst 
of a^^plause went up from all parts of the ^ wigwam,' 
which grew more and more deafening as it was pro- 
longed, and which did not wholly subside for ten or fif- 
teen minutes after. The cheers upon cheers which 
rent the air could have been heard all over the adjacent 
country. Of course ' Old Abe' was called out, and 
made an explanation of the matter. He stated that, 
some thirty years ago, then just emigrating to the 
State, he stopped with his mother's family, for one 
season, in what is now Macon county ; that he built a 
cabin, split i^ails^ and cultivated a small farm down on 
the Sangamon river, some six or eight miles from 



110 LIFE AND SPEECHES OT 

Decatur. These, he was informed, were taken from 
that fence ; but, whether they were or not, he had 
mauled many and many better ones since he had groAvn 
to manhood. The cheers were renewed with the same 
vigor when he concluded his remarks." 

A Western Kepublican relates the following thrilling 
episode in the life of Mr. Lincoln : '^ Mr. Lincoln, or 
^ Old Abe,' as his friends familiarly call him, is a self- 
made man. A Kentuckian by birth, he emigrated to 
Illinois in his boyhood, where he earned his living at 
the anvil, devoting his leisure hours to study. Having 
chosen the law as his future calling, he devoted himself 
assiduously to its mastery, contending at every step 
with adverse fortune. During this period of study, he 
for some time found a home under the hospitable roof 
of one Armstrong, a farmer, who lived in a log-house 
some eight miles from the village of Petersburg, Me- 
nard county. Here, clad in homespun, with elbow^s 
out, and knees covered with patches, young Lincoln 
would master his lessons by the firelight of the cabin, 
and then walk to town for the purpose of recitation. 
This man Armstrong was himself poor, but he saw the 
genius struggling in the young student, and opened to 
him his rude home, and bid him welcome to his coarse 
fare. How Lincoln graduated with promise, how he 
has more than fulfilled that promise, how honorably he 
acquitted himself alike on the battle-field, in defending 
our border settlements against the ravages of the savage 
foes, and in the halls of our national legislature, are 
matters of history, and need no repetition here. But 
one little incident of a more private nature, standing 
as it does as a sort of sequel to some things already 



/ 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Ill 

alluded to, I deem worthy of record. Some few years 
since the oldest son of Mr. Lincoln's old friend Arm- 
strong, the chief su]oport of his widowed m*other — the 
good old man having some time previously passed from 
earth — was aiTcsted on the charge of murder. A young 
man had been killed during a riotous melee, in the 
night-time, at a camp-meeting, and one of his asso- 
ciates stated that the death- wound was inflicted by 
young Armstrong. A preliminary examination was 
gone into, at which the accuser testified so positively 
that there seemed no doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, 
and, therefore, he was held for trial. As is too often 
the case, the bloody act caused an undue degree of ex- 
citement in the public mind. Every improper incident 
in the life of the prisoner — each act which bore the 
least semblance to rowdyism — each school-boy quarrel 
— was suddenly remembered and magnified, until they 
pictured him as a fiend of the most horrid hue. As 
these rumors spread abroad, they were received as 
gospel truth, and a feverish desire for vengeance seized 
upon the infatuated populace, while only prison-bars 
prevented a horrible death at the hands of a mob. 
The events were heralded in the county papers, painted 
in the highest colors, accompanied by rejoicings over 
the certainty of punishment being meted out to the 
guilty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by the 
circumstances under which he found himself placed, 
fell into a melancholy condition, bordering upon de- 
spair ; and the widowed mother, looking through her 
tears, saw no cause for hope from earthly aid. 

" At this juncture, the widow received a letter from 
Mr. Lincoln, volunteering his services in an effort to 



112 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

save the youth, fl'om the imptnding stroke. Gladly was 
his aid accepted, although it seemed impossihle for 
even his sagacity to prevail in such a desperate case ; 
but the heart of the attorney was in his work, and he 
set about it with a will that knew no such word as fail. 
Feeling that the poisoned condition of the public mind 
was such as to preclude the possibility of impanelhng 
an impartial jury in the court having jurisdiction, he 
procured a change of venue, and a postj)onement of the 
trial. He then went studiously to work unravelling the 
history of the case, and satisfied himself that his client 
was the victim of malice, and that the statement of 
the accuser was a tissue of falsehoods. 

" When the trial was called on, the prisoner, pale and 
emaciated, with hopelessness written on every feature, 
and accompanied by his half-hoping, half-despairing 
mother — whose only hope was a mother's belief of her 
son's innocence, in the justice of the God she worship- 
ped, and in the noble counsel, who, without hope of fee 
or reward upon earth, had undertaken the cause — took 
his seat in the prisoner's box, and with a ' stony firm- 
ness' listened to the reading of the indictment. Lin- 
coln sat quietly by, while the large auditory looked on 
him as though wondering Avhat he could say in defence 
of one whose guilt they regarded as certain. The ex- 
amination of witnesses for the State was begun, and a 
well-arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and pos- 
itive, was introduced, which seemed to impale the pris- 
oner beyond the possibility of extrication. The coun- 
sel for the defence propounded but few questions, and 
those of a character which excited no uneasiness on the 
part of the j^rosecutor — merely, in most cas^s, requir- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 113 

ing tlie main witness to be definite as to time and place. 
When the evidence of the prosecution was ended, Lin- 
coln introduced a few witnesses to remove some errone- 
ous impressions in regard to the previous character of 
his client, who, though somewhat rowdyish, had never 
been known to commit a vicious act ; and to show that 
a greater degree of ill-feeling existed between the accu- 
ser and accused than the accused and the deceased. 
The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and 
his opening speech was brief and formal. Lincoln 
arose, while a deathly silence pervaded the vast audi- 
ence, and in a clear but moderate tone began his argu- 
ment. Slowly and carefully he reviewed the testimony, 
pointing out the hitherto unobserved decrepancies in 
the statements of the principal witness. That which 
had seemed plain and plausible, he made to appear 
crooked as a serpent's path. The witness had stated 
that the affair took place at a certain hour in the even- 
ing, and that, by the aid of the brightly shining moon, 
he saw the prisoner inflict tho death blow with a slung- 
shot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at the hour referred to, 
the moon had not yet appeared above the horizon, and 
consequently the whole tale was a fabrication. An al- 
most instantaneous change seemed to have been wrought 
in the minds of his auditors, and the verdict of 'not 
guilty' was at the end of every tongue. But the advo- 
cate was not content with this intellectual achievement. 
His whole being had for months been bound up in this 
work of gratitude and mercy, and, as the lava of the 
overcharged crater bursts from its imprisonment, so 
great thoughts and burning words leaped forth from 
the soul of the eloquent LiDcoln. He drew a picture 



114 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

of the perjurer so horrid and ghastly that the accuser 
could sit under it no longer, but reeled and staggered 
from the court-room, while the audience fancied they 
could see the brand upon his brow. Then in words of 
thrilling pathos, Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fa- 
thers of sons who might become fatherless, and as hus- 
bands of wives who might be widowed, to yield to no 
previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but to 
do his client justice ; and as he alluded to the debt of 
gratitude which he owed to the boy's sire, tears were 
seen to fall from many eyes unused to weep. It was 
near night when he concluded by saying that, if justice 
were done — as he believed it would be — ^before the sun 
should set, it would shine upon his client a free man. 
The jury retired, and the court adjourned for the day. 
Half an hour had not elapsed, when, as the of&cers of 
the court and the volunteer attorney sat at the tea-ta- 
ble of their hotel, a messenger announced that the jury 
had returned to their seats. All repaired immediately 
to the court-house, and while the prisoner was being 
brought from the jail, the court-room was filled to 
overflowing with citizens of the town. When the pris- 
oner and his mother entered, silence reigned as com- 
pletely as though the house was empty. The foreman 
of the jury, in answer to the usual inquiry of the 
court, delivered the verdict of ' Not Guilty V The 
widow dropped into the arms of her son, who lifted her 
up, and told her to look upon him as before — free and 
innocent. Then, with the words, ^ Where is Mr. Lin- 
coln ?' he rushed across the room and grasped the hand 
of his deliverer, while his heart was too full for utter- 
ance. Lincoln turned his eyes toward the West, where 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 115 

the sun still lingered in view, and then, turning to the 
youth, said, ^ It is not yet sundown, and you are free/ 
I confess that my cheeks were not wholly unwet by 
tears, and I turned from the affecting scene. As I cast 
a glance behind, I saw Abraham Lincoln obeying the 
divine injunction by comforting the widowed and the 
fatherless/' 

In May, 1859, Mr. Lincoln wrote the subjoined let- 
ter to a German citizen of Illinois. The letter speaks 
for itself, and needs no comment : 

" Springfield, Blaij 17, 1859. 

^^ Dear Sir — Your letter, in which you inquire, on 
your own account and in behalf of certain other Ger- 
man citizens, whether I approve or oppose the consti- 
tutional provision in relation to naturalized citizens 
which was lately enacted in Massachusetts, and whether 
I favor or oppose a fusion of the Eepublicans with the 
other Opposition elements in the campaign of 1860, 
has been received. 

" Massachusetts is a sovereign and independent State, 
and I have no right to advise her in her policy. Yet, 
if any one is desirous to draw a conclusion as to what 
I would do from what she has done, I may speak with- 
out impropriety. I say, then, that so far as I understand 
the Massachusetts provision, I am against its adoption, 
not only in Illinois, but in every other place in which 
I have the right to oppose it. As I understand the 
spirit of our institutions, it is designed to promote the 
elevation of men. I am, therefore, hostile to anything 
that tends to their debasement. It is well known that 
I deplore the oppressed condition of the blacks, and it 
would, therefore, be very inconsistent for me to look 
with approval upon any measure that infringes upon 
the inalienable rights of white men, whether or not they 
are born in another land or speak a different language 
from our own. 



116 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

" In respect to a fusion^ 1 am in favor of it whenevci 
it can be eifected on Republican principles, but upon 
no other condition. A fusion upon any other platform 
would be as insane as unprincipled. It would thereby 

se the whole North, while the common enemy would 
ritill have the support of the entire South. The ques- 
tion in relation to men is different. There are good 
and patriotic men and able statesmen in the South 
whom I would willingly support if they would place 
themselves on Republican ground ; but I shall oppose 
the lowering of the Republican standard even by a 
hair' s-breadtli. 

'■'' I have written in haste, but I believe I have an- 
swered your questions substantially. 

^' Respectfully, yours, 

'' Abraham Lincoln. 

^'Dr. Theodor Canisius." 

" We have heard,'' says the The Evansville (Ind.) 
Journal^ '^ the following anecdote related of the people's 
candidate for the Presidency, which shows the love of 
knowledge, the industry, the conscientiousness, and the 
integrity of the subject of this sketch : 

^' It is well known that he lived in Spencer county, 
above here in Indiana, in his young days. He was a 
hard-working lad, and very eager in his thirst for 
knowledge. A man, named Crawford, owned a copy 
of Weems's Life of Washington — the only one in the 
whole neighborhood. Young Lincoln borrowed that 
interesting book (not having money to spare to buy 
one), and while reading it, by a slight negligence, left 
it in a windovf, when a rain-storm came up and wet the 
book so as to ruin it. Young Lincoln felt badly, but, 
like an honest boy, he went to Mr. Crawford with the 
ruined book, acknowledged his accountability for its 
destruction, and his willingness to make due compensa- 
tion. He said he had no money, but wonld work out 
the value of the book. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 117 

" The owner of the book said to him, ^Well, Abe, 
being as it's you, I won't be hard on yon. If yon will 
come over and pull fodder for two days, I'll let you 
off.' 

'^ Abe went over accordingly, and pulled fodder the 
requisite time ; and so tall and handy a lad w^as he, 
that Crawford required him to pull the fodder off of 
the tallest stalks, while he took the shortest ones him- 
self." 



118 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 



PAKT FOUETH. 

THE CONVENTION AND ITS NOMINATIONS. 

On tlie sixteenth day of May the Eepublican Na- 
tional Convention met at Chicago in a large building 
put up for the purpose and called the " Wigwam." 

The doors were opened at 11 o'clock. 

Long before that hour the concourse of people as- 
sembled around the doors numbered many thousands 
more than could gain admittance to the building. As 
soon as the doors were opened the entire body of the 
Wigwam was solidly packed with men. The seats in 
the galleries were equally closely packed with ladies. 
The interior of the hall was handsomely decorated with 
evergreen^ statuary, and flowers, and jDresented a strik- 
ing appearance. There were not less than ten thousand 
persons in the building, while the open doors displayed 
to view crowds in the streets unable to obtain more 
than a glimpse inside of the hall. 

At 12 o'clock the Convention was called to order by 
Gov. Morgan of New- York, Chairman of the National 
Committee, who named the honorable David Wilmot 
of Pennsylvania for temporary President. 

The Chair named Judge Marshall of Md., and Gov. 
Cleveland of Conn., to conduct Mr. Wilmot to his seat. 
Judge Marshall introduced Mr. Wilmot as the man 
who dared to do right regardless of consequences. 
With such a man, he said, there is no such word as fail. 



I 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. Il9 

Mr. WiLMOT addressed the Convention briefly, re- 
turning thanks for the high and undeserved honor. 
He would carry the remembrance of it with him to the 
day of his death. It was unnecessary for him to re- 
mind the Convention of the high duty devolved upon 
them. A great sectional interest had for years domi- 
nated with a high hand over the aifairs of the country. 
It had bent all its energy to the extension and natural- 
ization of slavery. It is the mission of the Republican 
party to oppose this policy, and restore to the govern- 
ment the policy of the Revolutionary fathers ; to resist 
the dogma that slavery exists wherever the Constitu- 
tion extends ; to read the Constitution as our fathers 
read it. That Constitution was not ordained to em- 
brace slavery within all the limits of the country. 
They lived and died in the faith that slavery was a blot, 
and would soon be washed out. Had they deemed that 
the Revolution was to es-tablish a great slave empire, 
not one would have drawn the sword in such a cause. 
The battle was fought to establish freedom. Slavery 
is sectional — freedom is national. [Applause.] He 
deemed it unnecessary to remind the delegates of the 
outrages and usurpations of the Democratic party. 

Those outrages will not be confined to the limits of 
the slave States if the South have the power, and the 
safety of the free States requires the Republicans 
should take the government, and administer it as it 
has been administered by Washington, Jefferson, and 
Jackson — even down to Yan Buren and Polk — before 
these new dogmas were engrafted in the Democratic 
policy. He assumed his duties, exhorting a spirit of 
harmony to control the action of the delegates. 



120 



LITE AND SPEECHES OF 



Committees on business and credentials were ap- 
pointed. In the afternoon session , tlie Committee on 
Organization reported the name of George Ashmun, 
of Massachusetts J for President, and Vice-Presidents 
and Secretaries from every State represented in the 
Convention. The subjoined Committee on Resolutions 
was appointed : 



Maine George Talbot. 

!N"e\v-Hampsbire. . . .Amos Tuck. 

Vermont E. M. Briggs. 

Massachusetts. ..G. S. Boutwel]. 

llliode Island B. T. Earner. 

Connecticut S. W. Kellogg. 

New- York Henry K. Selden. 

Ifew-Jersey . .Thomas S. Dudley. 
Pennsylvania. . . .William Jessup. 

Ohio J. H. Barrett. 

Indiana William T. Otto. 

Illinois Gustavus Koeler. 

Wisconsin Carl Schurz. 



Iowa -John A. Kasson. 

Minnesota Stephen Miller. 

Delaware !N". D. Smithers. 

Maryland F. P. Blair. 

Virginia ..... . . Alfred Caldwell. 

Kentucky George T. Blakely. 

Michigan Austin Blair. 

Missouri Charles M. Bernais. 

California F. P. Tracy. 

Texas J. Strauss. 

District of Columbia . .G. A. Hall. 

Nebraska A. S. Bradlock. 

Kansas J . F . Hatterscheidt 



On Thursday morning the Convention met at ten 
o'clock. The greatest enthusiasm was manifestedj both 
inside and outside of the " Wigwam." The entire day 
was consumed in the consideration of the proper rules 
to be adopted for the government of the Convention, 
and in discussing the resolutions reported from the 
Committee. It was agreed that a majority should nom- 
inate the candidates. The folio vmg resolutions were 
adopted by the Convention as 



THE PLATFORM OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

^^ Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives 
of the Eepublican electors of the United States, in 
Convention assembled, in the discharge of the duty we 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 121 

owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the 
following declarations : 

'■^ First : That the history of the nation during the 
last four years has fully established the propriety and 
necessity of the organization and perpetuation of the 
Repablican party, and that the causes which called it 
into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, 
more than ever before, demand its peaceful and consti- 
tutional triumph. 

"Second: That the maintenance of the principles 
promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and 
embodied in the Federal Constitution, is essential to 
the preservation of our republican institutions ; that 
the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and 
the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved ; 
and that we reassert ' these truths to be self-evident, 
that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness. That to secure these rights, governments are 
instituted among men, deriving their jast powers from 
the consent of the governed.' 

"Third: That to the Union of the States this 
nation owes its unprecedented increase in population ; 
its surprising development of material resources ; its 
rapid augmentation of wealth ; its happiness at home, 
and its honor abroad ; and wo hold in abhorrence all 
schemes for disunion, come from whatever source they 
may ; and we congratulate the country that no Repub- 
lican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced 
a threat of disunion, so often made by Democratic 
members of Congress without rebuke, and with ap- 
plause from their political associates ; and we denounce 
those threats of disunion, in case of a popular over- 
throw of their ascendency, as denying the vital princi- 
ples of a free government, and as an avowal of con- 
templated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an 
indignant people strongly to rebuke and forever silence. 

6 



122 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Fourth : That the maintenance inviolate of the 
rights of the States, and especially the right of each 
State to order and control its own domestic institu- 
tions, according to its own judgment exclusively, is 
essential to that balance of power on which the perfec- 
tion and endurance of our joolitical faith depends, and 
wo denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of any 
State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as 
amono; the gravest of crimes. 

^^ Fifth : That the present Democratic administra- 
tion has far exceeded our worst apprehensions in its 
measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional 
interest, as is especially evident in its desperate exer- 
tions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution 
upon the protesting people of Kansas — in construing 
the personal relation between master and servant to 
involve an unqualified property in persons — in its at- 
tempted enforcement everywhere, on land and sea, 
through the intervention of Congress and the Federal 
Courts, of the extreme pretensions of a purety local 
interest, and in its general and unvarying abuse of the 
power intrusted to it by a confiding people. 

''^ Sixth : That the people justly view with alarm the 
reckless extravagance w^hich pervades every department 
of the federal government ; that a return to rigid 
economy and accountability is indispensable to arrest 
the system of plunder of the public treasury by favored 
partisans ; while the recent startling developments of 
fraud and corruption at the federal metropolis, show 
that an entire change of administration is imperatively 
demanded. 

'' Seventh: That the new dogma that the Constitu- 
tion, of its own force, carries slavery into any or all the 
territories of the United States, is a dangerous political 
heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that 
instrument itself, with cotemporaneous expositions, and 
with legislative and judicial precedent, is revolutionary 
in its tendency, and subversive of the peace and har- 
mony of the country. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 123 

^^ Eighth : That the normal condition of all the terri- 
tory of the United States is that of freedom ; that as 
our republican fathers, when they had abolished slavery 
in all our national territory, ordained that no person 
should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
the process of lav/, it becomes our duty, by legislation, 
whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this 
provision of the Constitution against all attempts to 
violate it ; and we deny the authority of Congress, of a 
territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give 
legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United 
States. 

'^ Ninth : That we brand the recent re-opening of the 
African slave-trade, under the cover of our national 
flag, aided by perversions of judicial power, as a crime 
against humanity, a burning shame to our country and 
age ; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and 
efficient measures for the total and final suppression of 
that execrable trafftc. 

^^ Tenth : That in the recent vetoes by their federal 
governors, of the acts of the legislatures of Kansas and 
Nebraska, prohibiting slavery in those territories, we 
find a practical illustration of the boasted democratic 
principle of non-intervention and Popular Sovereignty, 
embodied in the Kansas and Nebraska bill, and a de- 
nunciation of the deception and fraud involved therein. 

" Eleventh : That Kansas should of right be immedi- 
ately admitted as a State, under the constitution re- 
cently formed and adopted by her people, and accepted 
by the House of Kepresentatives. 

^^ Tioelfth : That while providing revenue for the sup- 
port of the general government by duties upon imposts, 
sound policy requires such an adjustment of these im- 
posts as to encourage the development of the industrial 
interest of the whole country, and we commend that 
policy of national exchanges which secures to the work- 
ing man liberal wages, to agriculture remunerating 
prices, to mechanics and manufacturers an adequate 



124 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

reward for their skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the 
nation commercial prosperity and independence. 

^^ Thirteenth : That we protest against any sale or 
alienation to others of the public lands held by actual 
settlers, and against any view of the free homestead 
policy which regards the settlers as paupers or suppli- 
cants for public bounty ; and we demand the passage 
by Congress of the complete and satisfactory homestead 
measure which has already passed the House. 

^'■Fourteenth : That the Republican party is opposed 
to any change in our naturalization laws, or any State 
legislation by which the rights of citizenship hitherto 
accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall be 
abridged or impaired ; and in ftxvor of giving a full and 
efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, 
whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad. 

^^ Fifteenth : That appropriations by Congress for 
river and harbor improvements, of a national character, 
required for the accommodation and security of an ex- 
isting commerce, are authorized by the Constitution 
and justified by an obligation of the government to pro- 
tect the lives and property of its citizens. 

" Sixteenth : That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean is 
imperatively demanded by the interests of the whole 
country ; that the federal government ought to render 
immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and 
that, as preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail 
should be promptly established. 

" Seventeenth : Finally, having thus set forth our 
distinctive principles and views, we invite the co-oper- 
ation of all citizens, however differing on other ques- 
tions, who substantially agree with us in their affirm- 
ance and support." 

A scene of the wildest excitement followed the adop- 
tion of the platform, the immense multitude rising 
and giving round after round of applause ; ten thou- 
sand voices swelled into a roar so deafening that, for 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 125 

several minuteS; every attempt to restore order was 
hopelessly vain. The multitude outside took up and 
re-echoed the cheers, making the scene of enthusiasm 
and excitement unparalleled in any similar gathering. 

On Friday morning the wigwam was closely packed 
for a full hour before the Convention assembled. The 
interest in the proceedings appeared on the increase as 
the time for balloting approached. A crowd, numbered 
by thousands, had been outside the building since nine 
o'clock, anxiously awaiting intelligence from the inside. 
Arrangements had been made for passing the result of 
the ballots up from the platform to the roof of the 
building, and through the skylight, men being station- 
ed above to convey speedily the intelligence to the mul- 
titude in the streets. 

A large procession was formed by the various delega- 
tions, to march to the hall, preceded by bands oi 
music. 

As the delegates entered on the platform the several 
distinguished men were greeted with rounds of applause 
by the audience. 

The Convention then voted to proceed to ballot foi 
a candidate for President of the United States. 

Wm. M. Evarts, of New-York, did not rise for the 
purpose of making a speech, but only to ask if at this 
time it is in order to pu.t candidates in nomination. 

The President : 1'he Chair considers it in order to 
name candidates without debate. 

Wm. M. Evarts rose and said — I beg leave to offer 
the name of Wm. H. Seward as a candidate before tliis 
Convention, for the nomination of President of the 
United States. 



126 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

This nomination was received with, loud and long- 
continued applause. 

Mr. Judd, of Illinois, rose and said : Mr. President, 
I beg leave to offer, as a candidate before this Conven- 
tion for President of the United States, the name of 
Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois. 

The crowded audience greeted this nomination with 
perfectly deafening applause, the shouts swelling into 
a perfect roar, and being continued for several minutes, 
the wildest excitement and enthusiasm prevailing. 

Mr. Dudley, of New-Jersey, presented the name of 
Wm. L. Dayton. 

Gov. Keeder, of Pennsylvania : The State of Penn- 
sylvania desires to present, as her candidate, the name 
of Simon Cameron. 

Mr. Carter, of Ohio, put forward the name of Salmon 
P. Chase, of Ohio. 

Mr. Smith of Maryland — I am instructed by the 
State of Indiana to second the nomination of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. [Another outburst of enthusiastic ap- 
plause from the body of the Hall, mingled with some 
hisses.] 

Francis P. Blair of Missouri nominated Edwaid 
Bates of Missouri. 

Mr. Blair of Michigan said, on the part of Michigan, 
I desire to say that the Eepublicans of that State 
second the nomination of William H. Seward for the 
Presidency. 

Tremendous applause followed this speech, thou- 
sands of those present rising and waving their hats and 
handkerchiefs, and swelling the applause to a thunder- 
ing roar through several minutes. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 127 

Tom Corwiii of Ohio nominated John McLean of 
Ohio for the Presidency. [Loud applause.] 

Carl Schurz of Wisconsin, on the part of his State, 
here rose and seconded the nomination of William H. 
Seward. 

Upon this another scene of the greatest enthusiasm 
and tumultuous excitement ensued. 

Mr. North of Minnesota also seconded, on the part 
of Minnesota, the nomination of Mr. Seward. [Tre- 
mendous applause.] 

Mr. Wilson of Kansas — The delegates and people of 
Kansas second the nomination. [Kenewed cheers.] 

Mr. Delano of Ohio, on the part of a large number 
of people of Ohio — I desire to second the nomination 
of the man who can split rails and maul Democrats, 
Abraham Lincoln. [Bounds of applause by Lincoln 
men.] 

A delegate from Iowa also seconded the nomination 
of Mr. Lincoln, on the part of that State, amidst re- 
newed applause and excitement. 

A Yoice — Abe Lincoln has it by the sound now. 
Let us ballot. 

Judge Logan of Illinois — Mr. President, in order or 
ont of order, I propose this Convention and audience 
give three cheers for the man who is evidently their 
nominee. 

The President — If the Convention will get ovdr this 
irrepressible excitement, the roll will be called. 

After some further excitement the calling of the 
roll commenced, the applause at the different announce- 
ments being with difficulty checked. 

When Maryland was called, the Chairman of ihe 



128 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

delegation cast the vote of the State for Bates, two 
delegates claiming tlieir right to individual votes. 

After some discussion the Convention rejected the 
votes as cast hy the Chairman, and received the votes 
of the delegates separately. 

On the first hallot Mr. Seward received 173^ votes ; 
Mr. Lincoln, 102 ; and Mr. Bates, 48. The balance 
were divided between Messrs. Cameron, Chase, McLean, 
Wade, etc., etc. The States voting for Mr. Lincoln, 
were Illinois, Indiana, and, in part, Maine, New- 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Iowa. 

The second ballot was then taken. 

Mr. Cameron's name was withdrawn. 

For Mr. Lincoln. 

New-Hampshire 9 Delaware 6 

Vermont 10 Kentucky 9 

Rhode Island 3 Ohio 14 

Pennsylvania 48 Iowa 5 

The whole vote for Lincoln was 181. 

For Mr. Seward. 

Massachusetts 22 Kentucky 7 

ISTew-Jersey 4 Texas 6 

Pennsylvania 2J Nebraska 3 

The whole vote for Mr. Seward was 184^. 

Bates 35 Cameron 2 

McLean 8 Dayton 10 

Chase 42^ CM. Clay 2 

The third ballot was taken amid excitement, and 
cries for " the ballot.'" Intense feeling existed during 
the ballot, each vote being awarded in breathless si- 
lence and expectancy. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 129 



For Mr. Lincoln. 

Massachusetts 8 Maryland 9 

Rhode Island 5 Kentucky 13 

New- Jersey 8 Ohio (applause) 29 

Pennsylvania 52 Oregon 14 

This gave Lincoln 230^ votes, or witliin 1^ of a 
nomination. 

Mr. Andrew of Massachusetts then rose and correct- 
ed the vote of Massachusetts, by changing four votes, 
and giving them to Lincoln, thus nominating him by 
2^ majority. 

The Convention immediately became wildly excited. 

A large portion of the delegates, who had kept tally, 
at once said the struggle was decided, and half the 
Convention rose, cheering, shouting, and waving hats. 

The audience took up the cheers, and the confusion 
became deafening. 

State after State rose, striving to change their votes 
to the v/inning candidate, but the noise and enthusi- 
asm rendered it impossible for the delegates to make 
themselves heard. 

Mr. McCrillis of Maine, making himself heard, said 
that the young giant of the West is now of age. 
Maine now casts for him her 16 votes. 

Mr. Andrew of Massachusetts changed the vote of 
that State, giving 18 to Mr. Lincoln and 8 to Mr. 
Seward. 

Intelligence of the nomination was now conveyed 
to the men on the roof of the building, who imme- 
diately made the outside multitude aware of the result. 
The first roar of the cannon soon mingled itself with 
the cheers of the people, and the same moment a man 
6- 



130 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

appeared in the liall bringing a large painting of Mr. 
Lincoln. The scene at the time beggars description ; 
11,000 people inside, and 20,000 or 25,000 outside, 
were yelling and shouting at once. Two cannon sent 
forth roar after roar in quick succession. Delegates 
bore up the sticks and boards bearing the names of the 
several States, and waved them aloft over their heads, 
and the vast multitude before the platform were waving 
hats and handkerchiefs. The whole scene was one of 
the wildest enthusiasm. 

Mr. Brown, of Mo., desired to change 18 votes of 
Missouri for the gallant son of the West, Abraham 
Lincoln ; Iowa, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Minne- 
sota, also changed their votes. The result of the third 
ballot was announced : 

Whole number of votes cast 466 

IlTecessary to a choice 234 

Mr. Abraham Lincoln received 354, and was declared 
duly nominated. 

The States still voting for Seward were Massachu- 
setts, 8 ; New- York, 70 ; New-Jersey, 5 ; Pennsylva- 
nia, i ; Maryland, 2 ; Michigan, 12 ; Wisconsin, 10 ; 
California, 3 — total, llOL 

Mr. Dayton received one vote from New- Jersey, and 
Mr. McLean half a vote from Pennsylvania. 

The result was received with renewed applause. 

When silence was restored, Wm. M. Evarts came 
forward on the Secretary's te^ble, and spoke as follows : 

" Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the National Con- 
vention : — The State of New- York, by a full delega- 
tion, with contplete unanimity in purpose at home, 
came to the Convention and presented its choice, one 



A B R A 11 A M LINCOLN. 131 

of its citizenSj who had Served the State from boyhood 
iipj and labored for and loved it. We came here, a 
great State^ with, as we thought, a great statesman 
(applause), and our love of the great Kepublic, from 
which we are all delegates. The great Eej^ublic of the 
American Union, and our love for the great Eepubli- 
can party of the Union, and our love for our states- 
man and candidate, made us think we did our duty to 
the country, and the whole country, in expressing our 
preference and love for him. (Applause.) But, gen- 
tlemen, it was from Governor Seward that most of us 
learned to love Republican principles and the Republi- 
can party. (Cheers.) His fidehty to the country, the 
Constitution, and the laws — his fidelity to the party 
and the principle that majorities govern — his interest 
in the advancement of our party to its victory, that 
our country may rise to its true glory, induces me to 
declare that I speak his sentiments, as I do the united 
opinion of our delegation, when I move, sir, as I do 
now, that the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, of Il- 
linois, as the Republican candidate for the suffrages of 
the whole country for the oihce of Chief Magistrate 
of the American Union, be made unanimous.'' (Ap- 
plaus'i, and three cheers for Is ew- York.) 

The life-size portrait of Abraham Lincoln was here 
exhibited from the platform, amid renewed cheers. 

Mr. Andrews, of Massachusetts, on the part of the 
united delegation of that State, seconded the motion 
of the gentleman of New- York, that the nomination 
be made unanimous. 

Eloc[uent speeches, endorsing the nominee, were also 
made by Carl Schurz, F. P. Blair, of Missouri, and 



132 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Mr. BroY/ning, of Illinois^ all of wliich breathed a 
spirit of confidence and enthusiasm. 

At the close, three hearty cheers were given for 
New-York, and the nomination of Mr. Lincoln made 
unanimous. 

With loud cheers for Lincoln, the Convention ad- 
journed till five o'clock. 

On the first ballot, in the evening session, Mr. Ham- 
lin, of Maine, received 194 votes for the Yice-Presi- 
dency, and was nominated with enthusiasm. 

THE EATIFICATION BY THE PEOPLE. 

Everywhere, throughout the land, in New- York as 
well as Illinois, in Pennsylvania as well as Indiana, 
everywhere J the voice of the people has gone up in 
shouts of joy over the nomination of Lincoln and 
Hamlin. Even from Albany, where the friends of Mr. 
Seward were so strong, comes a despatch like the fol- 
lowing, dated the night of the day on which the nom- 
inations were made : 

^^ Nine o'clock, p. m. — The Kepublicans of this city 
are now fairly waked up, and the wildest excitement 
prevails in regard to the nomination of Lincoln. State 
street is a perfect sea of fire from burning tar barrels. 
The whole heavens are illuminated with a red glare, 
cannon is firing, music is playing, and the people are 
shouting on State street and Broadway. Both streets 
are literally jammed with men of all parties, who are 
earnestly discussing the action of the Convention. 

" The Kepublicans of the city are now more reconciled 
to the nomination, and unite in hearty approval of it. 
They consider that v/hile Lincoln may not be as strong 
in the State as Seward, he will be less objectionable 
throughout the Union. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 133 

^'- Since the reception of tlie successful laying of the 
Atlantic cable, no more animated scene has ever been 
witnessed in this city than has been seen this evening. 

" In New- York two six-pounders were brought to the 
Parkj and fired each a hundred times — one of them by 
order of the Eepublican General Committee, and the 
other under the patronage of private citizens. Besides 
these the Central Committee ordered one hundred guns 
to be fired in Madison and Hamilton squares respective- 
ly. In Mount Morris square, also, the big gun was 
brought out, and a hundred rounds announced to the 
citizens the nomination of Lincoln and Hamlin. Great 
numbers of enthusiastic Kepublicans gathered in the 
square, and the excitement was intense.^' 

In Philadelphia : " The Republicans opened their 
campaign by an immense mass meeting in Independence 
Square. John B. Myers, Esq. presided at the main 
stand, and three other meetings were organized — two 
at opposite angles of the square and one within the 
State-House. The meeting having been called to rati- 
fy the nominations made by the Chicago Convention, 
this was done in a series of resolutions highly eulogistic 
of the candidates and approving and adopting the plat- 
form on which they have been placed. Speeches were 
delivered by Mr. Senator Trumbull, of Illinois ; 
Charles R. Train, of Massachusetts ; Wm. M. 
Dunn, of Indiana ; Orris S. Ferry, of Connecticut ; 
James H. Campbell, of Pennsylvania ; John Sher- 
man, of Ohio ; G. A. Grow, of Pennsylvania ; Justin 
S. MoRRiL, of Vermont ; M. S. Wilkinson, of Min- 
nesota ; and other distinguished gentlemen. The as- 
sem^blage, in the display of numbers and enthusiasm, 
has rarely if ever been surpassed. Ward processions 
marched to the square with bands of music, firew^orl^s. 



134 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

transparencies, rails, etc, ; and when the series of meet- 
ings concluded, at about half-past ten o'clock, the 
multitude then proceeded to the Continental hotel in 
compliment to the distinguished speakers. 

In a speech at a Eepublican ratification meeting at 
Harrisburg, Senator Cameron, while declaring that he 
had hoped for the nomination of Mr. Seward, described 
Mr. Lincoln as '^a candidate less known in public life, 
perhaps, but who, on all occasions, when demands have 
been made upon his zeal and patriotism, has borne him- 
self bravely and honorably. In regard to the great 
interests of Pennsylvania, the subject of protection to 
labor, his record is clear, emphatic, and beyond suspi- 
cion. He will require no endorsement to convince the 
people of Pennsylvania that their interests will be per- 
fectly secure in his hands. Himself a laborer in early 
life, he has struggled with adversity until he has reach- 
ed the proud position he now occupies, by the single 
aid of a strong purpose, seconded by an unyielding 
will ; and it is not in the hearts of Penns3dvanians to 
doubt such a man. The laboring men of this StPvte 
ever control the ballot-box when they arise in the maj- 
esty of their strength. Let them go to the election 
next autumn, and, while they are securing their own 
interests, let them elevate to the highest place in their 
election gift, Abraham Lincoln, a workingman like 
themselves.'' 

At Washington, D. C, an enthusiastic ratification 
meetino; was held — the first time such a meetino; has 
been held in that city. 

The public press was never before so unanimous in 
its commendation of a candidate. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 135 

The N. Y. Tribune says : 

" While Mr. Lincoln's position as a Kepublican ren- 
ders him satisfactory to the most zealous member of 
the party, the moderation of his character, and the 
conservative tendencies of his mind, long improved and 
well known of all men in public life, commend him to 
every section of the opposition. There is no good 
reason why Americans and Whigs, and in short all 
who are inspired rather by patriotism than by party 
feeling, should not rally to his support. Eepublicans 
and conservatives, those who dread the extension of 
Slavery, and those who dread the progress of adminis- 
trative and legislative corruption, may be assured that 
in him both these evils will find a stern and immovable 
antagonist and an impassable barrier. At the same 
time, as a man of the people, raised by his own genius 
and integrity from the humblest to the highest position, 
having made for himself an honored name as a lawyer, 
an advocate, a popular orator, a statesman, and a man, 
the industrious and intelligent masses of the country 
may well hail his nomination with a swelling tide of 
enthusiasm, of which the wild and prolonged outbursts 
at Chicago yesterday are the fitting prelude and be- 
ginning. 

We need hardly say that the election of Mr. Lincoln, 
though it cannot be accomplished without arduous and 
persistent efforts, is eminently a thing that can he done. 
The disruption of the Democratic Party, now perhaps 
less likely to be repaired than before his nomination, 
the fact that he was put forward by one of the doubt- 
ful States, Illinois, and nominated in great measure by 
votes from two others, namely Pennsylvania and ISTev/- 
Jersey, the universal desire of the country to settle the 
vexatious Slavery question in accordance with the 
views of the fathers — all these are powerful in behalf 
of the Chicago ticket.'' 

The Springfield, Mass., Repuhlican : 



136 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

^^ In ways J which it is useless to mention now, we 
are, of course, disappointed ; in ways, which we shall 
have frequent occasion to mention between this date 
and November, we are glad and grateful. The nomi- 
nee is a positive man — a live man — and in these re- 
spects matches well with the platform, which is bold, 
manly, and comprehensive. The many friends of Mr. 
Seward, particularly, will feel aggrieved by this result, 
but it could not have been otherwise. The States 
which must be carried to secure a Republican triumph 
did not dare to assume Mr. Seward, and the forcing up- 
on them of a name that would weaken them, and de- 
velop opposition — organized and consolidated — would 
have been neither wise nor fair. We predict for the 
ticket a popularity that will grow, as the campaign ad- 
vances, into a furor of enthusiasm. We predict, fur- 
thermore, that it will be elected.'' 

The Boston Atlas : 

" As in 1840 and 1848, the Whig party passed b}' 
the prominent names before the Conventions at the out- 
set, and as in 1844 and in 1852 the Democratic party 
did the same thing, and elected men who were not the 
most prominently before the people, the Eepublicans 
have in this instance taken up men fresh from the peo- 
ple, of broad and statesmanlike quahties, of unques- 
tioned abilities, and of tried patriotism, in what is to 
be to them a great, and, as we confidently believe, a 
triumphantly successful campaign. In a nomination 
of this nature, there must have been necessarily man}^ 
preferences from people of different sections, some of 
which were to be set aside. Mr. Seward, Mr. Chase, 
Mr. Cameron, Mr. Banks, Mr. Bates, and Mr. McLean, all 
have friends presented their names for the first or sec- 
ond place on the ticket. For ourselves, we might have 
had personal preferences equally strong with others. 
But at a time like this, personal preferences are to be 
subordinated to the will of the majority, as expressed 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 137 

in the Convention, as to the success of the ticket as in- 
dicated by the judgment of that body." 

The N. Y. Evening Post : 

'' Our country is not, however, distinguished alone for 
its stupendous physical progress, for those grand tri- 
umphs over nature which have sprinkled the whole con- 
tinent with cities, and connected its remotest parts by 
railroads and telegraphs. It has also worked out for it- 
self a peculiar social and political constitution. Pla- 
cing, for the first time in the history of mankind, the 
controlling power of government in the hands of the 
whole people, it has constructed a vast fabric of socie- 
ty on that new basis. It has said to all ranks and or- 
ders of men, here you are free ; here you are equal in 
rights to each other ; here the careers of life are open 
to every comer ; men are thrown upon their own 
intrinsic manhood for their reliance, and it belon-gs to 
each one to become the architect of his own fortunes. 
This unlimited freedom of action, though it has pro- 
duced some social evils, has produced much greater 
good, and we do not believe that there is a nation on 
the globe in which the masses of the people are so 
prosperous, so intelligent, and so contented as they are 
in this nation. What more striking illustration of its 
effects could we have, than the rise of Mr. Lincoln to 
his present importance in the eyes of the w^orld ? Is 
he not pre-eminently the child of our free institutions ? 
A poor orphan, without education or friends, by the 
labor of his hands, by the energy of his will, by the 
manliness a.nd probity of his character, he raises him- 
self to fortune and fame ; a povv^erful party, vrhich 
contains, to say the least, as much virtue and intelli- 
gence as any other, assigns him, without intrigues or 
efforts of his own, the first place in its regards, making 
him the bearer of its standard in a momentous politi- 
cal conflict ; and in a few months more we may see the 
once friendless boy the occupant of the Presidential 



138 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

chair. Thus the spirit of our institutions is strikingly 
embodied in his career, which is itself an admirable 
commentary on their excellence." 

And the conservative Philadelphia North Ameri- 



can 



" The people of Pennsylvania are eminently practi- 
cal in all their views and actions. We are not hasty 
nor inconsiderate. We take time to reflect and gener- 
ally act intelligently. It has been so in this case. 
Our State entered into the canvass at Chicago with 
a spiritj a determination, and an indomitable energy 
which completely surprised the gentlemen from the ex- 
treme North, and served us a rallying point for all the 
moderates. The Pennsylvania delegation was gener- 
ally accredited with the selfish purpose of going to Chi- 
cago to secure the nomination of one of our own sons. 
Such was far from the truth. When the ground was 
surveyed, it was found that from the Atlantic seacoast 
of Jersey to the Mississippi river, in the whole belt of 
States south of New- York and Michigan, there was a 
settled determination not to take Mr. Seward, nor, in- 
deed, any extreme man. Yet ths councils of these 
States were divided, and no chance of concentration 
seemed to present itself. At length Pennsylvania, by 
the force of her numbers and courage, solved the prob- 
lem. She sacrificed her own canditate, and rushed 
over to the side of the Illinois favorite, Lincoln. 

'' This nomination was made by Pennsylvania, and it 
could not have been accomplished without her. Si^e 
brought together, for the first time, this noble phalanx 
of central free States, and gave them a community of 
feeling and purpose. From the first moment that this 
movement was begun victory was no longer doubtful. 
Pennsylvania demanded a protectionist, and so did all 
the States of this combination. Her demand could 
not be refused, and in Mr. Lincoln we have one whose 
devotion to American interests has been lifelong. 



ABKAHAM LINCOLIT. 139 

Sprung, too, from good old Pennsylvania stock, he 
was peculiarly entitled to her support. 

'' Under these circumstances it is clear that our gal- 
lant State has gained a signal triumph at Chicago, and 
one, too, the effects of which are likely to prove lasting. 
In the demonstration of joy with vv^hich the nomination 
has been hailed at Easton, Westchester, and other 
points throughout the interior, we read the indications 
of the popular feeling. The belief is general that this 
is a Pennsylvania ticket, and must receive the vote of 
the State. In fact, the people of this commonwealth 
are determined not to permit the election of another 
Democratic President, no matter with how much 
clamor any particular section of the country may de- 
mand it. The interests of the whole country must be 
attended to lirst, and those of sections afterward. We 
must purge the government of the corruptions which 
befoul every department at Washington. We must 
substitute honest, and patriotic, and sensible men for 
reckless, and intriguing, and plunder-seeking faction- 
ists, to whom the interests of humanity, the progress 
of civilization and enlightenment, and the rights and 
privileges of citizenship, are too small for serious con- 
sideration." 

And so vv^e might go on, quoting hundreds of pages 
of similar remarks from the American Press. 

ME. LINCOLN AT HOME. 

The Committee appointedby the National Convention 
to wait upon Mr. Lincoln, and inform him of his nomi- 
nation, immediately performed their duty. A corre- 
spondent of the Chicago Journal gives the subjoined 
graphic account of the visit of the Committee : 

'^ The excursion trainbearingthe Committee appoint- 
ed by the National Convention at Chicago to wait on 



140 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

Mr. Lincoln and notify him of his nomination, consist- 
ing of the President of the Convention, the Hon. Geo. 
Ashmun of Mass., and the chairmen of the different 
State delegations, arrived at Springfield, Friday even- 
ing at seven o'clock. 

"A great crowd was awaiting them at the depot, and 
greeted their coming with enthusiastic shouts. From 
the depot they marched to the hotel, accompanied by 
the crowd, and two or three bands discoursing stirring 
music. The appearance and names of the more distin- 
guished delegates were received with vociferous ap- 
plause, especially the venerable and famous Francis P. 
Blair of Maryland, the Hon. E. D. Morgan, Governor 
of New- York, and Governor Boutwell of Massachu- 
setts. 

" When they arrived at the hotel the crowd, still 
increasing, deployed off to the State-House square, to 
give vent to their enthusiasm in almost continual 
cheers, and listen to fervent speeches. 

" Having partaken of a bountiful supper, the delegates 
proceeded quietly, by such streets as would escape the 
crowd, to the residence of Mr. Lincoln. Quite a num- 
ber of outsiders were along, among whom were half a 
dozen editors, including the Hon. Henry J. Raymond of 
The Neiv- York Times. 

"Among the delegates composing the Committee, were 
man}^ of the most distinguished men in that great Con- 
vention, such as Mr. Evarts of New- York, the accom- 
plished and eloquent spokesman of the delegation from 
the Empire State, and friend of Mr. Seward ; Judge 
Kelly of Pennsylvania, whose tall form and sonorous 
eloquence excited so much attention ; Mr. Andrew of 
Massachusetts, the round-faced, handsome man, who 
made such a beautiful and telling speech on behalf of 
the old Bay State, in seconding the motion to make 
Lincoln's nomination unanimous ; Mr. Simmons, the 
gray-headed United States Senator from Rhode Island; 
Mr. Ashmun, the President of the Convention, so long 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 141 

the bosom friend and ardent admirer of Daniel Web- 
ster, and the leader of the Massachusetts Whigs ; the 
veteran Blair, and his gallant sons, Frank P. and 
Montgomery ; brave old Blakie of Kentucky ; Galla- 
gher, the literary man of Ohio ; burly, loud-voiced 
Cartter of Ohio, who announced the four votes that 
gave Lincoln the nomination, and others that I have 
not time to mention. 

'^ In a few minutes (it now being about 8 p. m.), they 
were at Lincoln's house — an elegant two-story dv/ell- 
ing, fronting west, of pleasing exterior, with a neat 
and roomy appearance, situated in the quiet part of the 
town, surrounded with shrubbery. As they were pass- 
ing in at the gate and up the steps, two handsome lads 
of eight or ten years met them Avith a courteous ' Good 
evening, gentlemen.' 

" ^Are you Mr. Lincoln's son ? ' said Mr. Evarts of 
New- York. ' Yes, sir,' said the boy. ' Then let's 
shake hands ;' and they began greeting him so warmly 
as to excite the younger one's attention, who had stood 
silently by the opposite gatepost, and he sang out, 
' I'm a Lincoln, too ;' whereupon several delegates, 
amid much laughter, saluted the young Lincoln. 

Having all collected in the large north parlor, Mr. 
Ashmun addressed Mr. Lincoln, who stood at the east 
end of the room, as follows : 

" ^ I have, sir, the honor, in behalf of the gentlemen 
who are present, a Committee appointed by the Repub- 
lican Convention, recently assembled at Chicago, to 
discharge a most pleasant duty. We have come, sir, 
under a vote of instructions to that Committee, to 
notify you that you have been selected by the Conven- 
tion of the Eepublicans at Chicago, for President of the 
United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of 
that selection, and that Committee deem it not only 
respectful to yourself, but a^ppropriate to the important 
matter which they have in hand, that they should 
come in person, and present to you the authentic evi 



342 LIFE AND SPElflCHES OF 

dence of tlie action of that Convention ; and, sir, T^itli- 
out any phrase which shall either be considered person- 
ally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have any 
reference to the principles involved in the questions 
which are connected with your nomination, I desire to 
present to you the letter which has been prepared, and 
which informs you of the nomination, and with it the 
platform, resolutions, and sentiments, which the Con- 
vention adopted. Sir, at your convenience, we shall 
be glad to receive from you such a response as it may 
be your pleasure to give us/ 

'' Mr. Lincoln listened with a countenance grave and 
earnest, almost to sternness, regarding Mr. Ashmun 
with the profoundest attention, and at the conclusion of 
that gentleman's remarks, after an impressive pause, 
he replied in a clear but subdued voice, with that per- 
fect enunciation, which always marks his utterance, 
and a dignified sincerity of manner suited to the man 
and the occasion, in the follov,dng words : 

"^Mr. Chaieman, and Gentlemen of the Com- 
mittee : I tender to you, and through you to the Ke- 
publican National Convention, and all the people 
represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high 
honor done me, which you now formally announce. 
Deeply, and even painfully sensible of the great respon- 
sibility which is inseparable from this high honor — a 
responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen 
upon some one of the far more eminent men and ex- 
perienced statesmen whose distinguished names were 
before the Convention, I shall, by your leave, consider 
more fully the resolutions of the Convention, denomi- 
nated the platform, and without unnecessary or un- 
reasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. Chairman, in 
writing, not doubting that the platform will be found 
satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. 

" ^ And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of 
taking you, and each of you, by the hand.' 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 143 

^^ Mr. AshmTin tlien introduced the delegates person- 
ally to Mr. Lincoln, who shook them heartily by the 
\uu\d. Gov. Morgan, Mr. Blair, Senator Simmons, Mr. 
Welles, and Mr. Fogg, of Connecticut, were first in- 
troduced ; then came hearty old Mr. Blakie, of Ken- 
tucky,- Lincoln's native State, and, of course, they had 
to compare notes, inquire up old neighbors, and, if the 
time had allowed, they would soon have started to 
tracing out the old pioneer families. Major Ben. 
Eggleston, of Cincinnati, was next, and his greeting 
and reception were equally hearty. Tall Judge Kelly, 
of Pennsylvania, was then presented by Mr. Ashmun 
to Mr. Lincoln. As they shook hands, each eyed the 
other's ample proportions, with genuine admiration — 
Lincoln, for once, standing erect as an Indian during 
this evening, and showing his tall form in its full 
dignity. 

" ^ What's your height ?' inquired Lincoln. 

" ' Six feet three ; what is yours, Mr. Lincoln V 
said Judge Kelly, in his round, deliberate tone. 

" ' Six feet four,' replied Lincoln. 
" ' Then,' said Judge Kelly, ' Pennsylvania bows 
to Illinois. My dear man, for years my heart has been 
aching for a President that I could look up to, and I've 
found him at last in the land where we thought there 
were none but little giants.' 

''Mr. Evarts, of New- York, expressed very gracefully 
his gratification at meeting Mr. Lincoln, whom he had 
heard at Cooper Institute, but where, on account of 
the pressure and crowd, he had to go away without an 
introduction. 

''Mr. Andrews, of Massachusetts, said, 'We claim 
you, Mr. Lincoln, as coming from Massachusetts, be- 
cause all the old Lincoln name are from Plymouth Col- 
ony.' 

"' We'll consider it so this evening,' said Lincoln. 

" Various others were presented, when Mr. Ashmun 
asked them to come up and introduce themselves 



144 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

' Come upj gentlemen/ said Mr. Judd, ^ it's nobody "but 
Old Abe Lincoln/ The greatest good feeling pre- 
vailed. As the delegates fell back, each congratulated 
the other that they had got just the sort of man. A 
neatly-dressed New-Engiander remarked to us, ' I was 
afraid I should meet a gigantic rail-splitter, with the 
manners of a flatboatman, and the ugliest face in 
creation ; and he's a complete gentleman.' 

" Mrs. Lincoln received the delegates in the south 
parlor, where they were severally conducted after their 
of&cial duty was performed. It will, no doubt, be a 
gratification to those who have not seen this amiable 
and accomplished lady to know that she adorns a draw- 
ing-room, presides over a table, does the honors on an 
occasion like the present, or will do the honors at the 
White-Souse, with appropriate grace. Sh»i is a daugh- 
ter of Dr. Todd, formerly of Kentucky, and long one 
of the prominent citizens of Springfield. She is one 
of three sisters noted for their beauty and accomplish- 
ments. One of thepa is now the wife of Ninian W. 
Edwards, Esq., son of old Gov. Edwards. Mrs. Lin- 
coln is now apparently about 35 years of age, is a very 
handsome woman, with a vivacious and graceful man- 
ner ; is an interesting and often sparkling talker. 
Standing by her almost gigantic husband, she appears 
petite, but is really about the average height of ladies. 
They have three sons, two of them already mentioned, 
and an older one — a young man of 16 or 18 years, now 
afc Harvard College, Mass. 

" Mr. Lincoln hoiQ himself during the evening with 
dignity and ease. His kindly and sincere manner, frank 
and honest expression, unaffected, pleasant conversa- 
tion, soon made every one feel at ease, and rendered 
the hour and a half which they spent with him one of 
great pleasure to the delegates. He was dressed with 
perfect neatness, almost elegance — though, as all Illi- 
noians know, he usually is as plain in his attire as he 
is modest and unassuming in deportment. He stood 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 145 

erect, displaying to excellent advantage his tall and 
manly figure. 

^^ Perhaps some reader will be curious to know how 
^ Honest Old Abe' received the news of his nomination. 
He had been up in the telegraph office during the first 
and second ballots on Friday morning. As the vote of 
each State was announced on the platform at Chicago, 
it was telegraphed to Springfield, and those who were 
gathered there figured up the vote, and hung over the 
result with the same breathless anxiety as the crowd at 
the Wigwam. As soon as the second ballot was taken, 
and before it had been counted and announced by the 
secretaries, Mr. Lincoln walked over to the State Jour- 
nal office. He was sitting there conversing while the 
third ballot was being taken. When Cartter, of Ohio, 
announced the change of four votes, giving Lincoln a 
majority, and before the great tumult of applause in 
the Wigwam had fairly begun, it was telegraphed to 
Springfield. Mr. Wilson, telegraph superintendent, who 
was in the office, instantly wrote on a scrap of paper, 
^ Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated on the third ballot,' 
and gave it to a boy, who ran with it to Mr. Lincoln. 
He took the paper in his hand, and looked at it long 
and silently, not heeding the noisy exultation of all 
around, and then rising and putting the note in his vest 
pocket, he quietly remarked, ' There's a little woman 
down at our house would like to hear this. I'll go 
down and tell her.' 

^' It is needless to say that the people of Springfield 
were delirious with joy and enthusiasm both that even- 
ing and since. As the delegates returned to the hotel 
— the sky blazing with rockets, cannon roaring at in- 
tervals, bonfires blazing at the street corners, long rows 
of buildings brilliantly illuminated, the State-House 
overflowing with shouting people, speakers awakening 
new enthusiasm — one of the New-England delegates 
remarked that there were more enthusiasm and sky- 
rockets than he ever saw in a town of that size before. 



146 LIFE AND SPEECHES OF 

" The Ohio delegates brought back with them a rail, 
one of the original three thousand split by Lincoln in 
1830 ; and though it bears the marks of years, is still 
tough enough for service. It is for Tom Corwin, who 
intends taking it with him as he stumps the Buckeye 
State for honest old Abe." 

A correspondent of the !N"ew- York Evening Post de- 
scribes his visit to Mr. Lincoln in the following manner : 

" It had been reported by some of Mr. Lincoln's po- 
litical enemies, that he was a man who lived in the 
^ lowest hoosier style/ and I thought I v/ould see for 
myself. Accordingly, as soon as the business of thf 
Convention was closed, I took the cars for Springfield. 
I found Mr. Lincoln living in a handsome, but not pre- 
tentious, double two-story frame house, having a wide 
hall running through the centre, with parlors on both 
sides, neatly, but not ostentatiously, furnished. It was 
just such a dwelling as a majority of the well-to-do 
residents of these fine western towns occupy. Every- 
thing pvbout it had a look of comfort and independence. 
The library I remarked in passing, particularly, and I 
was pleased to see long rows of books, which told of the 
scholarly tastes and culture of the family. 

^'Lincoln received us with great, and to me, sur- 
prising urbanity. I had seen him before in New- York, 
and brought with me an impression of his awkward 
and ungainly manner ; but in his own house, where he 
doubtless feels himself freer than in the strange New- 
York circles, he had thrown this ofP, and appeared easy, 
if not graceful. He is, as you know, a tall, lank man, 
with a long neck, and his ordinary movements are 
unusually angular, even out West. As soon, however, 
as he gets interested in conversation, his face Hghts up, 
and his attitudes and gestures assume a certain dignity 
and impressiveness. His conversation is fluent, agree- 
able and polite. You see at once from it that he is a 
man of decided and original character. His views are 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 147 

all his own ; such as lie has worked out from a patient 
and varied scrutiny of life, and not such as he has 
learned from others. Yet he cannot be called opinion- 
ated. He listens to others like one eager to learn, and 
his replies evince at the same time, both modesty and 
self-reliance. I should say that sound common sense 
was the principal quality of his mind, although at times 
a striking phrase or word reveals a pecuHar vein of 
thought. He tells a story yvqU, with a strong idiomatic 
smack, and seems to relish humor, both in himself and 
others. Our conversation v^as mainly political, but of 
a general nature. One thing Mr. Lincoln remarked, 
which I will venture to repeat. He said thi^t in the 
coming presidential canvass he was wholly uncommitted 
to any cabals or cliques, and that he meant to keep 
himself free from them, and from all pledges and 
promises. 

" I had the pleasure, also, of a brief interview with 
Mrs. Lincoln, and, in the circumstances of these per- 
sons, I trust I am not trespassing on the sanctities of 
private life, in saying a word in regard to that lady. 
Whatever of awkwardness may be ascribed to her 
husband, there is none of it in her. On the contrary, 
she is quite a pattern of lady-like courtesy and polish. 
She converses with freedom and grace, and is thoroughly 
au fait in all the little amenities of society. Mrs. 
Lincoln belongs, by the mother's side, to the Preston 
family of Kentucky, has received a liberal and refined 
education, and should she ever reach it, will adorn the 
White-House. She is, I am told, a strict and consis- 
tent member of the Presbyterian Church. 

"Not a man of us who saw Mr. Lincoln but was 
impressed by his ability and character. In illustration 
of the last let me mention one or two things, which 
your readers, I think, will be pleased to hear. Mr. 
Lincoln's early life, as you know, was passed in the 
roughest kind of experience on the frontier, and among 
the roughest sort of people. Yet, I have been told 



148 LIFE AND SPEECHES OB" 

that, in the face of all these influences, he is a strictly 
temperate man, never using wine or strong drink ; and 
stranger still, he does not ^ twist the filthy weed,' nor 
smoke, nor use profane language of any kind. When 
we consider how common these vices are all over our 
country, particularly in the West, it must be admitted 
that it exhibits no little strength of character to have 
refrained from them. 

'^ Mr. Lincoln is popular with his friends and neigh- 
bors ; the habitual equity of his mind points him out 
as a peacemaker and composer of difficulties ; his 
integrity is proverbial ; and his legal abilities are 
regarded as of the highest order. The soubriquet of 
' Honest old Abe,' has been won by years of upright 
conduct, and is the popular homage to his probity. 
He carries the marks of honesty in his face and entire 
deportment. 

^^lam the more convinced by this personal inter- 
course with Mr. Lincoln, that the action of our Con- 
vention was altogether judicious and proper." 

The Tribune gives the subjoined incident : 

" Probably no attribute of our candidate will, after 
all, endear him so much to the popular heart as the 
cooviction that he is emphatically ^ one of the people.' 
His manhood has not been compressed into the artificial 
track of society ; but his great heart and vigorous in- 
tellect have been allowed a generous development amid 
his solitary struggles in the forest and the prairie. 
With vision unobscured by the mists of sophistry, he 
distinguishes at the first glance between vv^hat is true 
and what is false, and with will and courage fortified 
by his life of hardship, he is not the man to shirk any 
responsibility, or to shrink from any opposition. More- 
over, he is peculiarly one to win our confidence and 
afiection. To know ' honest Abe' is to love him ; and 
his neighbors in the West, although voting for him to 
a man, will mourn the victory which is to deprive them 



ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 149 

of his presence. The following incident will exhibit 
Lincoln in one of those unobtrusive acts of goodness 
which adorn his life. The circumstance was related by 
a teacher from the Five-Points' House of Industry in 
this city : ^ Our Sunday-school in the Five-Points was 
assembled, one Sabbath morning, a few months since, 
when I noticed a tall and remarkable looking man enter 
the room and take a seat among us. He hstened with 
iixed attention to our exercises, and his countenance 
manifested such genuine interest, that I approached 
him and suggested that he might be willing to say 
something to the children. He accepted the invitation 
with evident pleasure, and coming forward, began a 
simple address, which at once fascinated every little 
hearer, and hushed the room into silence. His lan- 
guage was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical 
with intensest feeling. The little faces around would 
droop into sad conviction, as he uttered sentences of 
warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke 
cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted 
to close his remarks, but the imperative shout of "Go 
on !" " Oh, do go on !" would compel him to resume. 
As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the 
stranger, and marked his powerful head and deter- 
mined features, now touched into softness by the im- 
pressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity 
to learn something more about him, and when he was 
quietly leaving the room, I begged to know his name. 
He courteously replied, " It is Abraham Lincoln, from 
Illinois V ' " 

That the Convention at Chicago acted wisely and 
sagaciously, no man can for a moment doubt who looks 
over the field and sees the enthusiasm of the people 
over the nominations. That Lincoln and Hamlin can 
he, and will he, elected to the places to which they have 
heen nominated we have no manner of donht, and we 



150 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

cannot do better than to finish our sketch of Mr. Lin- 
coln by quoting the following admirable song of one of 
America's most gifted sons, William Henry Burleigh, 
of New- York : 

Up, again for the conflict! our banner fling out. 

And raUy around it with song and with shout I 

Stout of heart, firm of hand, should the gallant boya be. 

Who be:.r to the battle the Flag of the Free 1 

Like our fathers, when Liberty called to the strife. 

They should pledge to her cause fortune, honor, and life ! 

And follow wherever she beckons them on, 

Till Freedom exults in a victory won ! 

Then fling out the banner, the old stan'y banner, 

The battle-torn banner that beckons us on ! 

They come from the hillside, they come from the glen — 
From the streets thronged with traffic, and sui-ging with men 
From loom and from ledger, from workshop and farm, 
The fearless of heart, and the mighty of arm. 
As the mountain-born torrents exultingly leap, 
When their ice-fetters melt, to the breast of the deep ; 
As the winds of the prairie, the waves of the sea, 
They are coming — are coming — the Sons of the Free I 
Then fling out the banner, the old starry banner, 
The war-tattered banner, the flag of the Free ! 

Our Leader is one who, with conquerless will. 

Has climbed from the base to the brow of the liill ; 

Undaunted in peril, unwavering in strife, 

He has fought a good fight in the Battle of Life 

And we trust him as one who, come woe or come weal, 

Is as firm as the rock, and as true as the steel, 

Kighfc loyal and brave* with no stain on his ere^ 

Then, hurrah, boys, for honest "Old Abe of the West I" 
And fling out your banner, the old starry banner, 
The signal of triumph for " Abe of the Weet !" 

The West, whose broad acres, from lake-shore to sea, 

Now wait for the harvest and homes of the fr«e 1 

Shall the dark tide of Slavery roll o'er the sod. 

That Freedom makes bloom like the garden of God ? 

f he bread of oui- children be torn from their mouth, 

To feed the fierce dragon that preys on the South ? 

No, never ! the trust which our Washington laid 

On us, for the Future, shall ne'er be betrayed ! 

Then fling out the banner, the old starry banner. 
And on to the conflict with hearts undismayed I 



POLI TICAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STAT ES. 

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38 f trbg ^ lacKsoit's lubtohitg. 



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the Rev. Dr. Taylor, where they haVe already reached the enormous salo 
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of nature makes the whole world kin.'^ 

IV'E BEEN THINKING ; or, The Secret of 6ttccess, 12mo., clo,, 91 00 
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